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When the Marauders stepped on to the court for their CIS semi-final match against the Western Mustangs, they knew they were in familiar territory.

In last year’s CIS semi-final, they were up against the Mustangs as well. This was a game that the Marauders took easily, 3 sets to 0, but this year’s CIS semi-final would play out very differently.

The Marauders and Mustangs rivalry has been present in men’s volleyball for years, and for the first time in the past two seasons, the Mustangs were able to come out of the match victorious.

“You can’t beat a team that good, every single time you play them,” said Coach Dave Preston.

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In the past two years, the Marauders and Mustangs have played each other a total of nine times.

In those nine matches, that are comprised of both regular season and playoff games, the Marauders have won eight of them.

But in their ninth meeting in two years at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary, the Mustangs were a very different team.

“Western just played loose and care-free, and they were playing like there was little consequence to their game and that isn’t how we were playing,” said Preston.

“They weren’t letting anything affect them, good or bad… they were just swinging. They didn’t care if they got blocked or not, and sometimes playing loose can be the difference and in the past that hasn’t been the case but this time it was.”

Just six days prior to the CIS semi-final, the Marauders hosted the OUA Championships, which saw the Maroon and Grey dominate playoff action in the Burridge Gym- and easily take Western in the OUA final in four sets.

But on Feb. 28, the roles were reversed, as the Mustangs diminished the Marauders first-place national championship hopes by taking the match in four sets (25-23, 17-25, 30-28, 25-20).

For the first time in two years, the Mustangs were the better team.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen our guys as disappointed in the last two years as they were that night,” said Preston.

Although the match could be seen as an upset, the fact of the matter is, the Mustangs have always been a team that has been able to make the Marauders have to play to their absolute best abilities.

In two match-ups this year, the Mustangs were able to take the Marauders to five sets, where the matches could have easily gone in Western’s favour.

It was only a matter of time for the Mustangs to finally conquer the Marauders, and they happened to do it at the best time in national championship action.

“They finished fourth last year [at CIS Championships] and that was a re-match of last year’s semi-final, so they deserve everything, there’s no doubt about it,” said Preston.

Despite the Marauders disappointment, they did not take too much time to dwell on their loss, as the bronze-medal match against Laval was taking place on the following day.

Coach Preston was sure to instill in the player’s minds that the bronze medal match-up would be a new game, and a new opportunity for Mac to prove themselves.

“The way we termed it was bronze medals go to the team that can pick themselves up and dust themselves off,” said Preston.

“That’s a pretty important lesson in life, it’s not the failure that you’re concerned about, it’s whether or not you react to it properly and I was very proud of how we reacted to it,”

The Marauders beat their CIS rivals from the finals last year- the Laval Rouge-et-or, with ease, finishing the team off in three sets.

Preston was proud of the team’s ability to rebound after their tough semi-final loss.

“With the season we just had mentally, we’re tougher than we are and we proved that in the bronze medal match. We’re capable of rebounding, now we have to use it at the right time.”

The Marauders will now prepare for their off-season, which will consist of six months of consistent physical training that the team will waste no time getting started on.

But McMaster will never forget this year’s CIS semi-final game, and will use it as motivation heading into next season.

“We still feel like it’s undone. We still feel like we’re not satisfied, but we also believe that were very, very close to where we want to be,” said Preston.

With five OUA championship wins in the last seven years, and two CIS medals in the last two years, the Marauders will hope to be exactly where they would like to be next season—on a plane back from the CIS Championships with a gold medal in hand.