Gaels weekend road round-up: week 14

Men’s hockey comes out even, men’s and women’s volleyball split games while men’s, women’s basketball come up empty in weekend series 

The men’s basketball team lost their fourth game in a row this weekend against Ottawa.
The men’s basketball team lost their fourth game in a row this weekend against UOttawa.
Photo: 
Matt Scace

Men’s hockey dominates Nipissing, drops close game to Concordia

Although the men’s hockey team (15-6-0) found the net easily this weekend, the Gaels came back to Kingston with a win and a loss after beating the Nipissing Lakers (6-15-0) 4-1 and losing 4-3 to the Concordia Stingers (13-8-1).

On Friday, with the help of two goals from forward Slater Doggett, the Gaels secured an early playoff berth in their 4-1 win over Nipissing. Tied 1-1 after two periods, Queen’s broke loose with three unanswered goals, downing the Lakers. Goaltender Jack Flinn held down the team’s back end, stopping 27 shots—a light night for a goalie who’s seen over 40 shots a game on multiple occasions this season.

Against Concordia, the Gaels fell 4-3 in a game that was within reach for much of regulation. It was the first meeting between the two since Concordia beat Queen’s in last year’s playoffs. Up 3-2 going into the final frame, the Gaels gave up a goal early and conceded the game-winner with under four minutes remaining. Unable to regain the lead, Queen’s was dealt their fifth loss of the season.

On Wednesday, Queen’s is slated to play UOIT in Oshawa to make up for a rescheduled game from the fall term.

Women’s basketball falters against Carleton and UOttawa

Sitting well behind the Carleton Ravens (13-3) and UOttawa Gee-Gee’s (14-2) in the OUA standings, the Gaels (9-7) ended their weekend even further back, losing to the Ravens 60-52 and Gee-Gee’s 72-64.

Against the nationally-ranked eighth Ravens, Queen’s got off to one of their worst starts of the season: at the end of the first quarter, they trailed 20-4. While the Gaels held tight with their opponent in the last three quarters, they came within five points of Carleton before falling behind in the final moments of the game.

Taking on the nationally-ranked sixth Ottawa Gee-Gee’s, the Gaels fell behind early for the second night in a row. Trailing 20-8 at the end of the opening frame Queen’s shot 12 per cent from the field through 12 minutes. Fourth-year Veronika Lavergne was the exception to the rule, shooting 58.3 per cent. While Queen’s slowly cut the margin to seven nearing the fourth quarter, the team fell victim to their early deficit.

Returning home this weekend, the Gaels will host Nipissing (3-13) and Laurentian (6-10) next weekend, kicking off a five-game home stand.

Men’s basketball lose big to Carleton and UOttawa

The men’s basketball team’s (8-8) faced a pair of hard losses against the undefeated Carleton Ravens (16-0) and UOttawa Gee-Gees (12-4) in their weekend trip to Ottawa.

On Friday night against the Ravens, Queen’s was up 12-9 against the country’s first-ranked team in the first quarter until the hosts pulled away with a nine-point lead by the end of the frame.

By halftime, the Gaels were down 41-26—and there was no recovering. Queen’s fell big, 95-66, for their seventh loss of the year. Of note, the Ravens scored 45 bench points compared to Queen’s meager 16.

Against UOttawa, the Gaels fared better and played with more consistency, but still faltered 84-68.

Keeping pace with the nationally-ranked eighth Gee-Gees for the first half of the game, the Gaels were trailing by one point at the beginning of the third quarter. However, UOttawa was up by nine by the end of the third and, for the second night in a row, the Gaels failed to recover.

In both games, third-year guard Quinton Gray led the team with 15 points.

Next up, the Gaels will host the Nipissing Lakers (2-14) and the Laurentian Voyageurs (8-8) on Friday and Saturday.

Men’s volleyball splits weekend against Guelph and Waterloo

The men’s volleyball team (8-3) had their five-game win streak snapped against the Guelph Gryphons (6-4) on Friday, and rebounded to defeat the Waterloo Warriors (3-6) in straight sets on Saturday.

Despite the team’s loss to Guelph, the Gaels came within points of flipping the result on the Gryphons. Narrowly winning the first set 26-24, the Gaels lost two of the three final sets by just three points. With 12 kills from outside hitter Zac Hutcheson and middle blocker Malcolm Prentice each, the Gaels had contributions from numerous players throughout the game.

Looking to build off their decent play against Waterloo, Queen’s pushed through three tight sets—all of which went in their favour. While the Gaels hit 43 kills to Waterloo’s 22, Queen’s committed 21 errors to the Warriors’ nine. With the win, Queen’s currently shares first place in the OUA East with the Ryerson Rams (8-3).

Next weekend, the Gaels will host the University of Toronto (8-4) on Saturday afternoon, and then take aim at Ryerson on Sunday in a probable battle for first in the OUA East.

Women’s volleyball defeats Guelph, loses to Waterloo

After taking both teams to five sets, the women’s volleyball team (6-5) split their weekend series against the Guelph Gryphons (5-6) and the undefeated Waterloo Warriors (11-0). With a win over the former and a loss to the latter, the Gaels moved to third in the OUA East.

On Friday night against the Gryphons, the women won the first two sets before struggling through the third and fourth, moving the game to a deciding set. However, they were able to come back in the fifth set, winning 15-12. Queen’s managed a hitting percentage of 0.198 compared to Guelph’s 0.177, and five Gaels hit double-digits for points in the match.

The following evening, the Gaels went to a fifth set again, but were unable to come out with a win, falling to the Warriors.

After losing the first two sets by a score of 25-22 each, the Gaels won the third set 25-22 before running away with the fourth 25-13. However, the Warriors found their footing in the fifth, coming back to win the final set 15-10.

Notably, fifth-year Caroline Livingston had 16 kills, and second-year Saffron van der Linde led the Gaels with six blocks and four aces.

This weekend, the Gaels are set to return home and host both the University of Toronto Blues (8-4) and the Ryerson Rams (10-1).

Tags: 
Men's hockey
Men's Basketball
women's basketball
Men's Volleyball
Women's Volleyball

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