KINGSTON, Ont. - The Rams women's volleyball team had a hot start but couldn't find an answer for Queen's tough service game as the squad dropped a 3-1 decision (25-22, 23-25, 15-25, 11-25) on Saturday afternoon.

The Rams looked strong in the opening set, trading points in the early going then turning it on down the stretch. A double block from Katelyn Grasman and Mikayla Sherriffs gave the Rams a 16-14 lead at the technical timeout, then the Rams opened up a seven point lead at 23-16. Queen's was able to claw back with a pair of kills out of the middle position, but a mistimed service error from the Gaels gave the Rams a 25-22 opening set win.

The second set was a back and forth affair, coming right down to the wire. Tied at 21-21, Queen's earned a kill off hands before capitalizing on an overpass to take a two point lead. Trailing 24-23, the Rams had a chance to tie the set but the Gaels were able to find the floor to win the set 25-23 and tie the match at 1-1.

After picking up the set win, the Gaels turned on the pressure from the service line for the rest of the match. The Rams serve receive struggled early in the third, falling behind 12-4 and forcing an early timeout call. Out of the break, Queen's committed three straight errors to get the Rams back in contention but the Gaels recovered to lead 16-9 at the technical. Lauren Mellon continued the strong service game and sealed the set at 25-15 with an ace to give Queen's a 2-1 lead overall.

In the fourth, the Gaels jumped out to a quick 10-3 advantage and were in control the whole way. More serve receive issues from the Rams led to easy points for the home side and Queen's locked up the victory with a 25-11 set score.

Queen's finished the match with 16 service aces, led by Shea Baker who had six.

Offensively, Zoe Kuck and Ashley Ditchfield led the Rams with six kills each while Mary Ann Rioflorido led all players with 15 digs in the match.

The Rams drop to 0-2 on the season after their two games against the Gaels and will look to rebound next week when they host the York Lions in their home opener on Saturday, November 13.