The Lancer men's volleyball team started the 2018-19 season in dramatic fashion with a five-set whirlwind against the Queen's Gaels on Saturday afternoon in Kingston. The Lancers came out of the nail-biter as the victors with a 3-2 (25-17, 25-17, 36-38, 13-25, 15-9) win. They then completed the weekend sweep with a convincing 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-15) win over the RMC Paladins on Sunday. 

SATURDAY @ QUEEN'S
In the first set the Lancers controlled the pace of play and the offense. Lancer standouts Adam Childs and John Moate played integral roles in not only consistently productive offense but also effective defense on their way to a first set win, 25-17.
 
In the second set it was more of the same for the Gaels and the Lancers. The home team Gaels struggled to control the Lancers scoring and keep up with offense of their own. The Lancers took the second set by a familiar margin, 25-17.
 
In the third set the Gaels, led by Hutcheson and Neuert, began to fight back. Late in the set the two clubs went on a streak of extra service to close out the set. Despite both teams making numerous errors and failing to gain the two point margins, both teams' battles hard. Queen's eventually took the set 38-36.
 
In the fourth set it was clear who the momentum was with, after gutting out a crucial win in the last set, the Gael's were playing with confidence in spades. The Gaels held serve and held on to a lead they carried throughout the set to knot the match up at two, 25-13
 
After going up two sets to none, the Lancers were stuck playing a fifth set they didn't want to play. As much was evident early when they fell behind 3-0, however, luckily for the Blue and Gold they rallied back and never lost the lead again for the entire set, taking it 15-9.

Pierce Johnson was the most lethal scorer on the floor, amassing 19 kills for the Lancers, while Zac Hutcheson and Mitchell Neuert each had 15 for Queen's. Brad Gyemi put in the best defensive effort of the day, leading all players with 15 digs. The Lancers had a decent day from the service line, scoring nine aces to Queens' eight.
 
SUNDAY @ RMC
In the first set the Lancers were reliant on a stingy defense. They kept the Paladins on their heels and held serve for the majority of the first set.  Led by Pierce Johnson, the Lancers took the first set 25-11 on the back of a fantastic defensive set.
 
The second set represented the best offensive set for both teams. While the Paladins almost doubled their kills, from seven in the first set to 12 in the second. Windsor went about their offense scoring the same number of kills but doing it in a more efficient manner. The Lancers needed every bit of the efficiency as RMC's firepower made it close, 25-19.
 
In the third set, the blue and gold took care of business using a combination of sound defense and effective offense. Despite a strong offensive showing by Dale Towe, the Paladins couldn't keep pace with the Lancers as the Blue and Gold took the final set and the match 25-15.
 
Pierce Johnson led all scorers with 15 kills on the day. RMC was led by Dale Towe who had 13 kills.
 
Roland Bouchard put forth the best defensive performance, getting down for 11 digs. The Paladins defense was led by Robert Chua with seven.
 
Anthony DeGirolamo was the best team mate on the floor, setting up 17 assists. Jonathan Barton was the assists leader for the Paladins with 15.
 
UP NEXT
Up Next the Lancers head home to take on Brock Badgers at the St. Denis Centre. The action gets underway on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 2:00pm. The game is also the Blue & Gold's annual Breast Cancer Awareness Day and there will once again be commemorative t-shirts for sale for $12 each.