Marauders finish season at .500

The McMaster Women’s Volleyball team travelled to York University this past Sunday to face the fifth ranked Lions in what almost turned out to be a considerable upset of epic proportions.

Coming off a frustrating loss against the Golden Gaels McMaster knew that a win against York would be crucial in order to place at least top five in their division.

The Marauders got off to a powerful start on Sunday as they took a quick 10-7 lead over the Lions. As the teams entered the midway point McMaster held a consistent lead and only gained more momentum as the set continued. McMaster continued their lead, executing one perfect play after another spreading the lead to 14-9. York remained behind and McMaster racked up the score even higher. York caught up and remained within the striking distance as the set now set at 16-13. After the technical timeout a continuous pattern of errors gave the Marauders the advantage as the set drew to a close.

The score continued to favor the Marauders as the set now sat at 22-17. The set remained close and continued on with the score sitting at 24-20 for the Marauders. With a team effort from Shannon McRobert and Amanda Weldon a crucial three points for the Marauders would be the determining factor, as the set would end with a win for the visiting McMaster squad.

McMaster continued to power on in the second taking an early 5-2 lead. York soon staged an immediate comeback as they took over and lead 7-6 over the Marauders. Neither team managed to string together a consistent run from the service line, but York found their rhythm and took over with a 16-14 lead heading into the technical timeout. York would find more consistency as the set continued and would take a commanding lead as the set came to a close. The set now sat in favor of the Lions with a score of 24-19 with York eventually clenching a win with the final score sitting at 25-21.

With new found momentum for the York Lions it was expected for the third set to be within their control but it ended up being quite the opposite. The errors, which plagued them early on during the first, set slowly made their return. The Marauders were able to jump on York’s slow start taking an early 11-4 lead. McMaster continued their triumphant run bringing the score to a seven-point lead going into the technical timeout. McMaster kept up their momentum leading the set 21-13. York had one last run left before the set was out of their reach. McMaster would eventually seal the deal and take the third set 25-20 over the home team.

McMaster would head into the fourth set anything but confident, as some shaky serves would open the start of the set. The Lions built momentum off of McMaster’s shaky start and won 11 of this first 13 points before the Marauders would call a time out. Mac made some changes to the line-up with Camilla Thorne-Tjomsland entering the set and proving to be a force at the service line.

Slowly, McMaster regained their confidence and worked their way back into the fourth set bringing the score within five of the Lions. Ultimately the set would end badly for the Marauders after some service errors plagued their hopes for a comeback. York would step up and make a kill from the right inevitably ending the set with a score of 25-15.

The hope of a win for the visiting Marauders would all lie in their actions in the fifth and final deciding set.

The Lions would speed ahead of the Marauders winning four out of the first five points. The home team soon gained more ground bringing the set to 12-6. McMaster would prove to make the set a definite battle as Kailee Stock made some important kills to bring the Marauders within three. Unfortunately Stock’s tip fell just wide on the next point and sadly it was all over the Maroon contingent as York took the final set and the game.

The loss now drops the Marauders to 9-9 on the season allowing them to clinch the sixth spot in the OUA. The team will travel to Ryerson University on Saturday, Feb. 16 for the OUA Quarterfinal match against the hosting Rams.