Box Score The Varsity Blues men's volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 19-25) match to the Queen's Gaels on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 27) at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

The Blues record drops to 5-6 on the season, while the Gaels take sole possession of fourth place in the OUA East division at 6-5.

Second-year outside hitter Alex Barnes put up a game-high 13 kills and 15 digs in the loss. Jordan Figueria recorded a game-high 46 assists and 13 digs. Ryan Smith and Nicholas Trewen added 11 and 12 kills respectively.

The first set was a back-and-forth affair, so close that Queen's led 16-13 at the first technical timeout. The Gaels went on a 4-1 run out of the break, and were able hold off a late Blues surge to nab the first set 25-22.

Toronto recorded six of the first seven points in the second set, but Queen's fought back to cut the deficit to 16-13 at the technical timeout. The visitors continued the momentum they built prior, finishing a 12-5 run to tie it up at 18 apiece. The Blues quickly responded though with a 7-2 run, capped off by a Barnes' kill to take the set 25-20.

The two teams were tied at 10-10 in the third set, but the Gaels tallied a 6-1 streak to head into the technical timeout up 16-11. The Blues mounted a late attack to inch within two points; however, fell just short 25-23.

In a close fourth set, the Gaels pushed themselves away from the Blues to grab a 16-11 advantage heading into the fourth technical. Once again, Toronto generated a late 5-0 run to get within a single point, but couldn't retake the lead. Queen's secured the final set 25-19.

Queen's Jack Peckham registered a team-high 12 kills, and fifth-year outside hitter Markus Trence recorded 13 digs in the win.

The Blues continue their weekend home stand on Sunday afternoon against RMC (2-9). Opening serve is at 3:00 p.m., at Goldring Centre.

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