Gaels face Canada’s best in exhibition play

Men’s volleyball confronted tough western Canadian opposition over the holiday break.

The Gaels went 1-3 at an exhibition tournament in St. Petersburg, Florida last weekend, against three of the top 10 teams in Canada. They were swept by the Manitoba Bisons 25-19, 25-18 and 25-18 in their first match of the tournament, on New Year’s Day.

Last Friday, the men came from behind to beat the Mount Royal Cougars in five sets. After losing the first two sets 18-25 and 21-25, the Gaels stormed back to win three straight by scores of 25-12, 25-15 and 15-11.

Mount Royal and Manitoba are currently tied for ninth place in the CIS rankings.

The third match was another straight-set loss — this time against the third-best Canadian club, the Brandon Bobcats. The final scores were 25-18, 25-17 and 25-14.

In their fourth and final match of the tournament, Queen’s faced off against the Calgary Dinos — their only competition not ranked in the CIS top 10. The Gaels were able to take one set, but lost 25-22, 18-25, 25-17 and 25-23.

— Brent Moore

Mixed results in Concordia tournament

Women’s basketball settled for a 1-2 record in exhibition play over the break in Montreal.

The Gaels took part in the Concordia-Reebok tournament from Dec. 28-30, taking on a pair of Quebec schools and one OUA opponent.

The Gaels beat the Bishop’s Gaiters 64-56 in their tournament opener.

The teams appeared evenly matched in the first half. There were several lead changes and Queen’s went into the intermission up by two.

The Gaels broke away in the third quarter and built a 12-point lead that carried them to the final buzzer.

Veteran guard Liz Boag scored 18 points, while second-year guard Sarah Saftich had 12. Post Robyn Pearson gobbled up 13 rebounds.

Queen’s took on the host Concordia Stingers in their second match of the tournament.

Despite being down only one point at halftime, the women eventually lost 66-47. The final quarter was marked by a 13-point scoring tear by Concordia.

Guard Emily Hazlett and wing Jenny Wright supplied 10 points apiece for the Gaels

They wrapped up their exhibition play against the McMaster Marauders (6-2), the top team in the OUA Central division.

McMaster came out firing, building a 23-9 lead in the first quarter before going onto take it 75-47. Boag put up 20 points in the loss.

The Gaels are back in regular season action tonight, hosting the Nipissing Lakers (0-6) at 6 p.m. in the ARC. Tomorrow, they take on the Laurentian Voyageurs (3-4).

— Brent Moore

Women’s hockey winless in Montreal

Like their basketball counterparts, women’s hockey struggled in a tournament hosted by Concordia.

The Gaels finished 0-2-1 at the Theresa Humes tournament from Jan. 2-4, dropping their final game of the tournament in a shootout.

Queen’s started off with a 7-3 loss to Team Quebec before falling to the Western Mustangs 4-1 in their second match. The loss to the Mustangs came just over a month after the Gaels bested them in a shootout on Nov. 30.

The tournament finished with the seventh-place consolation game against the Concordia Stingers. Concordia’s Tracy-Ann Lavigne notched the shootout winner to send the Gaels home without a victory.

The break wasn’t completely negative for the Gaels, as five members of the roster were named to an OUA All-Star team that took on the Canadian Under-18 women’s team in a pair of exhibition clashes.

Forwards Shawna Griffin, Fiona Lester and Taryn Pilon were joined on the squad by defencemen Mary Coughlin and Danielle Girard.

Queen’s (10-2-2) takes on the Ryerson Rams (6-7-0) on the road tonight in regular season play, before facing off with the Toronto Varsity Blues (8-3-2) tomorrow.

— Sean Sutherland