Gaining match experience is still a priority for the rebuilding men’s volleyball team.

The Gaels topped the Ryerson Rams 3-0 and the Toronto Varsity Blues 3-2 at home last weekend, aided by developing players.

“I made the decision to continue to develop our depth,” said Gaels head coach Brenda Willis after the win over Toronto. “I went with a different right side, and our younger setter who’s going to take the reins next year.”

Fourteen Gaels saw the court against Toronto. Second-year setter Matt Bonshor played in the first three sets, before fifth-year setter Jackson Dakin finished with the match-tying and match-winning sets.

“It was really a struggle emotionally on our side to keep our errors low and manage ourselves,” Dakin said. “Because when we played well, it wasn’t even close.”

Queen’s responded after a first-set loss with a 25-10 second-set rebound, before pulling out the fourth and fifth sets by scores of 25-23 and 15-13.

“Really the key was to keep our execution good, be efficient and we would have beaten them three straight,” Dakin said.

Throughout the five-set battle, the Gaels committed 14 service errors and managed only one ace.

“On our side, there’s a lot of stuff that we can improve on and we’ve identified that,” Dakin said. “The result speaks well, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

The two wins put the Gaels at 3-1 on the season, fourth in the OUA.