Mac grabs OUA Championship

John Bauer / The Silhouette

In some ways, the McMaster men’s volleyball team’s journey to Canadian university volleyball glory is drawing to its epic conclusion. In other ways, the real battle is just beginning. After a doling out a measure of revenge to the York Lions team that ruined their perfect season, the men dismantled Western to take their fourth OUA title in six years. They now stand three wins from their first CIS volleyball title since 2007.

Friday’s straight-set win over York showed the volleyball world that the Maroon’s stunning season-ending loss to the same was a fluke. From the very beginning, McMaster dominated play, dropping the Lions 25-17, 25-15, 25-20. Ray Szeto, who two weeks ago picked the Marauder defense apart, was limited to a mere six points and ended the day with more errors than scores. In a bit of foreshadowing, Jayson McCarthy let his return from injury be known with five aces, and Jori Mantha lead the team with sixteen points. The domination was so thorough that Mac did not make a single substitution all game.

Saturday brought a more formidable adversary to Burridge in the Western Mustangs. While the game was close as one would expect a championship game to be, it was remarkably sloppy, with the teams combining for more than a hundred errors. The final was a four set war going to the home side 25-27, 26-24, 32-20, 25-20. Both teams also hit double-digit ace totals, with McCarthy again serving up five untouchable balls. On a day when it was hard to find any of Mac’s big offensive guns not firing, one stood out above the rest. Mantha chose the right game to put up a team and personal season high 28 points. Dany Demyanenko was another key contributor to the barrage with 15 points of his own.

The team has little time to celebrate however. Since they’ve been billed as one of Canada’s best since the beginning of the season, the OUA crown was all but expected of them. For the first time all season, they enter a set of games not as the favourites, receiving the number three rank in Quebec. The Brandon Bobcats, against whom McMaster’s tallest split a two-game preseason series, draw the number one seed. The Trinity Western Titans, two-time CIS defending champions who actually managed a better record than Brandon only to fall in the Western final, are ranked number two. Rounding out the eight-team field are Alberta, Laval, UNB, Western, and Montreal.

The Maroon begin their title search at 12:30 p.m. on March 1 against the number-six ranked University of New Brunswick Reds. The semifinals run the evening of March 2, and the final game is 4:30 p.m. on March 3. All games are offered free on the CIS TV website.