Eyes on the Forsyth

The McMaster Marauder’s men’s volleyball team continue to dominate the province and impress the nation with two more wins to add to their so far perfect season. A win in Gryphon territory on Jan. 18 and another against the second place OUA team the Waterloo Warriors on Jan. 19 has helped the Marauders to be one of the scariest teams in the league, and the second best team in the country.

During the Friday night game against Guelph, the first set saw the Gryphons get out to a lead that they would ultimately keep until the end of the set. The powerful Marauders eventually tied the set at 24 points, but their efforts were soon surpassed by the Gryphons that won the set 26-24.

In the second set, the Marauders got off to a small lead that the Gryphons would fight to hang on to, tying the game at 17 points. The McMaster team refused to let the lead slip, and finished off the set winning it 25-22.

The third set saw the Marauders get off to a seven point lead early on, a lead that would only increase as the set continued. The Marauders won the third quite handily, 25-17.

In the fourth set, the lead constantly alternated between teams, but after a series of kills from Tyson Alexander, the Marauders got to a four point lead heading into the technical timeout. The Marauders kept the momentum going, and won the final set 25-17.

Tyson Alexander led the score for the Marauders, with 15.5 points and 10 kills, and teammate Jori Mantha was not too far behind with 15 points.

The intensity level was high in the Saturday game against the Waterloo Warriors, as the second place OUA Warrior team is a talented squad that is very capable of beating the powerful Marauders.

In the first set, Waterloo came on the attack early to try and break the Marauder’s confidence. The Warriors had a four point lead heading into the technical timeout. After the break, the determined Marauders made a comeback, and trailed the Warriors by one point, 18-17. Two aces from Alex Elliot and Austin Campion-Smith got the Marauders to tie it at 20. The Marauders got to a two point lead after a double contact call against a Warrior. They kept that lead, winning the set 25-23.

The second set saw the Marauders get to an early lead, causing the Warriors to call a time out. After the break the Marauders kept the lead going by three points heading into the technical timeout. The Warriors could not compete with the Marauders who continued to bury points, and ultimately win the set 25-19.

In the third set, Waterloo refused to let the Marauders run away with it so easily, and got themselves to a slight lead heading into the technical timeout. After the break a kill from Jayson McArthy got McMaster back on track, 19-18. A kill from Danny Demyanenko got McMaster to a lead of 23-22, but the Warriors were not finished yet, sending the game into five extra points. Stephen Maar would seal the deal by giving the Marauder team their last point, with a score of 29-27.

Alex Elliot was the leading scorer for the Marauders, with 14.5 points and 12 kills, while Danny Demyanenko was not too far behind him with 14 points and 12 kills as well.

The Marauders will host the Western Mustangs on Friday and the Windsor Lancers on Saturday this coming weekend in Burridge Gym, where they will hope to pull off more impressive wins and remain the second best team in the nation.