Banner Season: Gaels earn second consecutive Forsyth Cup
Windsor, Ont. (via Luke O’Brien/Windsor Lancers) – The Queen’s Gaels earned their second consecutive Forsyth Cup, the eleventh in program history, with a straight sets win over the Windsor Lancers on Friday night, with set scores of 25-17, 25-23, and 25-23.
The Gaels silenced the passionate Toldo Lancer Centre crowd from the first serve with a service ace by Reed Venning, the first of two aces by the fourth-year outside hitter in the opening set. The Gaels took a lead as large as 17-8 on the backs of four kills by Nikola Mitrovic and three by Venning.
The ability to limit the home crowd was described as “An impressive display of composure from our guys in tight moments,” by Gaels men’s volleyball head coach Gabriel deGroot.
“We’ve always been a team that trusts our processes and doesn’t really get caught up in the moment.”
The Lancers were able to cut into the deficit as the set progressed, including big blocks from Darian Koskie and Gustavo Siqueira, but the Gaels prevailed 25-17. The tricolour hit .462 in the opening frame, outplaying the Lancers .040 mark.
Windsor came out more composed to start the second set, taking an early two-point lead that they held into the midway point of the set. Queen’s stayed persistent and made it a back-and-forth game the rest of the set, forcing a tie at 23-23 and earning their first lead with their 24th point. A service ace from Chris Zimmerman gave them a commanding two-set lead.
Facing the end of their championship opportunity, the Lancers had a spark lit under them to start the third set, taking a lead as large as three points midway through the third set. Every point was backed by the relentless support of a sold out Toldo Lancer Centre crowd, filled well past its 2,000 seat capacity. Queen’s serving and hitting proved to be too much, as Gaels hit .273 in the third set and came back to win 25-23 to take home their second consecutive Forsyth Cup.
Gaels captain and Forsyth Cup Player of the Game Chris Zimmerman relishes the experience, “Same exact location […] the same time of year. It’s a pretty sweet feeling to go back-to-back, for sure.”
Zimmerman was named Player of the Game, recording 29 assists, six digs, and two service aces, and Reed Venning had 10 points on eight kills, two service aces, and seven digs.
Zimmerman credits his teammates for his success: “All year, my guys have just been my rock. Like I say before every game I’m going to trust my guns, and they just score at will, so I think it’s so easy to find them. We had a great gameplan going into tonight.”
Nikola Mitrovic led the Gaels with a game-high 17 kills, the only player to break double-digits. His 20 points came off of two service aces, two digs, and a solo block.
deGroot sums up the Gaels stategy: “We upgraded some elements of our gameplan because much of what [the Lancers] did is very similar in terms of their tactics so I think we made some really good adjustments that actually paid off really well. The mindset’s the same – play aggressive and believe in each other and believe in ourselves.”
Conaire Taub had eight kills to pace the home squad. Markus Law-Heese had 21 assists and Noah Koskie had a game-best ten digs.
With the win, Queen’s officially claims the top spot in the OUA for the 2025-26 season. Both teams have qualified for the 2026 BioSteel U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championships and will be back in Windsor, Ont. at the Toldo Lancer Centre on March 13-15 to compete for national glory.
