The Gaels are serving, setting, and spiking into the semifinals.
The Women and Men’s Volleyball teams both rolled into the OUA quarterfinals on Feb. 20 in good position for deep playoff runs. The Men’s team finished third in the OUA regular season, setting up a home playoff game against the sixth-seeded York Lions, who finished with a record of 12-8 on the season.
The Women’s team, despite dropping a five-set thriller in Ottawa in their second-last game of the season, have been on an absolute tear, going 9-1 in 2026. The late-season successful run earned them a fourth-seeded OUA standing and a date with the fifth-seeded Guelph Gryphons.
A great matchup for the women’s team, as the Gaels beat the Gryphons all three times playing them this season, with one being a pre-season game. It would come down to a fourth matchup on Feb. 20 at the ARC.
The Gaels assumed dominance in the game from the very beginning by using a balance of all three phases: offense, defence, and serving. The first set was highlighted by two long serving performances by Lauren MacPhail, ArtSci ’27, and Abigail McAlpine, ArtSci ’26, with the Gaels cruising to a 25-11 win.
The second set was a little closer for the first half of the match, as both teams traded back possession of serve. That all changed with a seven-serve run by Claire Carter, Comm ’27, who put the game out of reach, and the Gaels secured the second set victory 25-17. During the set, the Gaels amassed 18 kills, where the OUA average is around 11.
The last set was again a quick, dominant frame by the Gaels, who continued to show their hard-hitting offence with a 16-kill performance, with Carter contributing eight of them. Yet another long serving run put the game out of reach as the Gaels secured the 25-14 victory and an OUA semifinal berth.
On the Men’s side, there was a lot tighter of an affair. With the Lions stealing one game earlier in the year against the Gaels, the fans were poised for a close match. The first set began with both teams fighting for each point. This was proven by the longest serving run only being three; however, the Gaels found a way with some timely offence to secure the first set 25-21.
The second set had the same feeling to it: whoever was going to make the least amount of mistakes was going to win. Both teams managed to make fundamental service errors down the stretch, but the Gaels found a way to fight through and win by a score of 26-24.
More of the same continued in the third set as the Gaels and the Lions felt the playoff pressure in the final frame, with both teams making critical errors at crucial times. In the final eight points, there were four service errors, two aside, making every point matter.
Resilience has been a theme for the Gaels all season, and on this night they found a way to win points when it mattered, winning the final set by the narrowest of margins, 25-23.
The Men’s team will host the Nipissing Lakers in the OUA semifinals at the ARC on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m., while the Women’s team will travel to St. Catharines to take on the number one seed Brock Badgers for a chance to advance further in the playoffs.
Tags
Gaels, Guelph Gryphons, OUA quaterfinals, Volleyball
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