McMaster Athletics iterates support for new volleyball coach

Despite disappointing results for men’s volleyball this season, McMaster’s athletics administration maintains support for head coach Brad Douwes

For the first time in many years, the Marauders men’s volleyball team has failed to qualify for the Ontario University Athletics playoffs. This comes after a season of disappointing results, with the team winning only eight games and losing 12.

For head coach Brad Douwes, this follows a strong first year leading the team. Douwes took over the program from Dave Preston, who served as head coach from 2002 to 2022.

Last year, Douwes and his team captured an OUA championship title after winning 16 games in the regular season. This marked the third consecutive OUA title for the Marauders, reinforcing their dominance in the league.

However, this season was a different story. The Marauders won only eight regular-season games and lost 12, ultimately failing to qualify for the OUA championship playoffs.

Throughout the season, the Marauders also lost key players. Setter Robbie Fujisawa, who played earlier in the season, was absent from the final games. Similarly, middle blocker Haben Yohannes did not feature after the winter break.

Despite this season's results, Eric Bourque, associate director of McMaster Athletics, expressed full confidence in Douwes and the direction he is taking the program.

“I'm really confident in the direction that he [Douwes] is taking the program. He's brought a focus to analytics . . . making sure that he has a strong rationale for what he wants to do and how it's going to benefit the athletes and how it's going to benefit the program,” said Bourque.

Bourque added that this season reflects the challenges of a coaching transition.

“. . . I think for folks who are kind of keenly paying attention to sports, this isn't an uncommon transition when you're moving from one coach to another, especially if it's a long-standing coach and you've got different styles and different philosophies. So I think sometimes it takes a little bit for that coach [to] establish the new foundation for where they want to be taking things,” said Bourque.

Along with building a strong team, Bourque also commented on his role in shaping the student-athlete experience. He believes Douwes is the right coach to carry out this vision for the men’s volleyball program.

“We're focused on, as a department, trying to make sure that the experience is great all the way through and when they graduate from here, they [student-athletes] look back and they say, you know, wins or not, I had an awesome time and I wanna go back . . . I want to support the current student-athletes and I want to support the team,” said Bourque.

Whether Douwes’ coaching transition will ultimately benefit the men’s volleyball team remains to be seen. However, McMaster Athletics has made it clear that they remain firmly behind him as he continues to shape the future of the program