Marauders remain undefeated

The women’s volleyball team continue to flex their muscles over the Ontario University Athletics competition, sweeping away the Lakehead Thunderwolves in their two-game series in Thunder Bay, ON.

The Marauder women showed poise in the first match on Nov. 11. After dropping the second set to Lakehead, the women came back swinging with dominating performances in the third and fourth set, eventually leading to a 3-1 victory over the Thunderwolves.

Fifth-year outside hitter Rebecca Steckle led the charge on Friday, posting 11 kills on 23 attempts to go along with a serving ace and nine digs. Setter Caitlin Genovy played a huge role in the victory, recording 34 assists while putting Steckle and fourth-year outside hitter Joanna Jedrzejewska with multiple opportunities to win big points for the Marauders.

The Marauders followed up their victory with a stellar performance on Nov. 12, sweeping Lakehead in three sets, not allowing their opposition to score more than 15 points in any set. Genovy, in her fourth year of eligibility, continued to be the core to the Marauder’s offensive success, tallying 31 assists on the evening.

With their sweep over Lakehead over the weekend, the women’s volleyball team continued their undefeated season and move to 5-0 on the season. The two victories also saw the team move up in the University Sports rankings, who now rank as the no. 4 team in the country behind Alberta, University of British Columbia, and fellow OUA team University of Toronto.

Head coach Tim Louks has been impressed with the strong start from the team, and points to the role players as an important factor to their fast start.

“The depth of our team is evident in the practice room,” Louks said, prior to the team’s trip to Thunder Bay. “If you can practice at a very high level, then you will compete with that expectation in matches. That will help us along the path for sure. The players have been outstanding in the process.”

Although the team has yet to face the toughest competition the OUA has to offer, beating teams ranked lower in the standings is just as important. Doing so marks a team as a consistent force in the league, one who takes each game one at a time and does not fall into a trap of overlooking the competition.

“Our season is extremely long and [at times] disjointed with stopping for exams and breaks,” Louks said. “Our ability to stay focused through distractions will assist in our desire to be among the best. We will train with good intelligence and energy.”

The success of the McMaster winter varsity teams has been impressive, and the women’s volleyball team has been no different. Even with their first true competition coming from Western (who is currently undefeated with a 5-0 record) on Nov. 26, the team will continue to take their season one set at a time, and learn from every match.