Men’s Volleyball enters OUA semi-finals with championship aspirations
Gaels wish to win first OUA championship in view that 2019-20 seasonEvery year, for the reason that hiring of contemporary Men’s Volleyball Head Coach Gabriel deGroot withinside the 2018-19 season, the Gaels had been a perennial OUA championship contender.
However, notwithstanding triumphing lower back-to-lower back provincial championships in the course of deGroot’s first years on the helm, the crew has fallen brief for the reason that COVID-19 cancelled season.
This year’s no different. With the crew completing 2d withinside the OUA standings, the Gaels are in a top role to make a deep playoff run.
The crew’s first check of the postseason got here on Feb. 21 with a domestic courtroom docket quarterfinal matchup in opposition to the 7th seeded Guelph Gryphons.Fresh off the Reading Week break, the crew wasted no time igniting their playoff marketing campaign with a hard-fought 25-22 victory withinside the starting set.
Though they stumbled withinside the 2d, falling 20-25, they rallied in a interesting 0.33 set, edging out a 29-27 win. Sealing the address a decisive 25-21 triumph withinside the fourth, the Gaels secured their spot withinside the semifinals, putting in a showdown in opposition to the Western Mustangs.
The group become led via way of means of veterans, graduating athletes Zig Licis, Sci ’25, and Dax Tompkins, ArtSci ’25. Licis recorded the sport excessive in kills and aces, with 17 and 3 respectively, Tompkins imparting the protecting presence with a group main 5 blocks.
“We’ve finished a quite suitable task of placing ourselves in an excellent playoff position. […] Home courtroom docket gain is large for us. We have a miles better file at domestic than we do on the street over the past possibly 5 years,” deGroot stated in an interview with The Journal previous to the primary playoff game.
A playoff run comes with a whole lot of tension and pressure, mainly in a unmarried removal format. Oftentimes, it is able to be smooth to consciousness on consequences while a loss can quit a season, but deGroot pushes a procedure-centered technique for his gamers.“We simply attempt to hold forth that so long as they stick with the procedure that’s gotten them here, the consequences will contend with itself,” deGroot added.
This Gaels group represents a more youthful squad than preceding years, a massive contingent of the middle beginning gamers being most effective of their 0.33 year.
