Gaels sweep Rams in final home game for coach Brenda Willis

Gaels sweep Rams in final home game for coach Brenda Willis

By Communications Staff

February 20, 2018

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Volleyball head coach Brenda Willis
Members of the Queen's Gaels men's volleyball team celebrate head coach Brenda Willis as they prepare to play her final regular season home game. Willis is set to retire at the end of the season.

A quick roundup of Gaels teams and athletes in action over the weekend:

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The Queen's Gaels (9-8) put in a dominant performance, sweeping the Ryerson Rams (11-5) in the final home game for head coach Brenda Willis 25-16, 25-17, 25-14 on Saturday.

Prior to the match, the Gaels honoured their graduating seniors as Jack Peckham, Thomas Ellison and Markus Trence were recognized. The Gaels then honoured long-time head coach Brenda Willis, who received a standing ovation. Willis – who now has a Queen’s best 363 career victories at the helm of the volleyball team – is set to retire at the conclusion of the season.

Zac Hutcheson led the Gaels with 13 kills and Trence added nine more. Peckham finished with four blocks.

On Friday, the Gaels clinched a playoff spot as they swept the Toronto Varsity Blues (6-10) 25-20, 25-18, 25-21 at the ARC. Trence finished with 11 kills and Peckham added eight more. Zane Grossinger paced the attack with 35 assists

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The Queen’s Gaels (12-6) fell in four sets to the undefeated No. 6 Ryerson Rams (17-0) 19-25, 25-22, 23-25, 20-25, on Saturday night in their final home match of the season. The Gaels are now locked into third place in the OUA East division and will meet the Western Mustangs for their quarterfinal playoff in two weeks.

Before the start of the match, the Gaels honoured their graduating senior Shannon Neville who entered the night third in kills in the OUA. Neville led the attack with 17 kills but Ryerson were too strong overall.

On Friday the Gaels lost a tough five-set battle to the Toronto Varsity Blues (13-4) 25-22, 25-18, 26-28, 24-26, 8-15. Neville ended the game with 19 kills and four aces. Sierra Hardy had 54 assists.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Queen’s Gaels (11-12) closed out the regular season with a tough road loss to the No. 1 Carleton Ravens (23-0) by a score of 97-52. The Gaels finished sixth in the OUA East and will visit the Ryerson Rams on Wednesday to open the OUA playoffs.

The powerhouse Ravens were too strong and showed why they are the top-ranked team in the country. Mike Shoveller led the Gaels with 12 points and two blocks.

On Friday, the Gaels pushed the No. 9 Ottawa Gee-Gees (16-6) to the final whistle but fell just short in an 89-86 loss. The Gaels had tied it up in the final minute but the home side were able to pull out the win.

Tanner Graham finished with a team-high double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds to go along with six assists.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Queen's Gaels (17-6) dropped their final game of the OUA regular season 67-46 in Ottawa to the No. 1 Carleton Ravens (23-0) who finish the season undefeated.  Despite the loss, Queen’s secured the second seed in the OUA East and will host an OUA quarterfinal game Saturday, Feb. 24 at the Queen's ARC.

The top –ranked Ravens controlled the game throughout. Andrea Priamo led the Gaels with 10 points and eight rebounds.

On Friday, the Gaels came away with a big 63-50 road win against the Ottawa Gee-Gees (14-8).

The Gaels led 32-35 at the half and maintained the comfortable gap to the final whistle. Marianne Alarie finished with 13 points and Priamo once again had 10 points and eight rebounds.

MEN’S HOCKEY

The No. 9 Queen’s Gaels (2-0) ousted the Nipissing Lakers (0-2) with a dominant 6-1 victory on Friday night. Luke Edwards and Jaden Lindo led the way for the Gaels with strong offensive efforts. Edwards had a goal and three assists while Lindo scored two goals and added an assist.

Also scoring for the Gaels were Warren Steele, Darcy Greenaway and Alex Stothart. Goalie Kevin Bailie earned the win with 28 saves.

The Gaels now face the Concordia Stingers in the second round of the playoffs, starting Wednesday, Feb. 21 at the Memorial Centre at 7:30 pm.

CURLING

The Queen’s Gaels women’s curling team narrowly missed out on a championship banner but finished the provincial tournament as the silver medalists and also qualified for the U SPORTS national championship in March being hosted by the University of Alberta in March at the Leduc Recreation Centre.

After finishing 5-2 in the round robin the Gaels advanced to the playoffs. After defeating the Guelph Gryphons 6-5 in the quarterfinals the Gaels beat the Brock Badgers 9-3 to reach the final against the Laurier Golden Hawks.

The two teams traded leads and were tied at 3-3 in the sixth. Laurier tallied lone points in the seventh and eighth ends to take the title 5-3.

Second Calli Barclay was named a first-team all-star for the Gaels while skip Mary Fay took home second-team honours.

On the men’s side the Gaels went through the round robin with a 5-2 record which advanced them to the playoffs. In the quarterfinals they met Ryerson and lost 8-5. Second Decebal Michaud was named to the first-team all-star squad while lead Owen Purdy was honoured on the second-team