Men's volleyball comes away with a win on the road

When the Marauders stepped into Alumni Hall in London, Ont. they knew that they would be facing a difficult team, under difficult circumstances.

“I knew it was going to be a battle. Rarely, do you go into London and come out with an easy victory. I’ve been in this game for 20 years and I do not think it has ever happened,” said head coach Dave Preston.

Although McMaster was able to get off to a quick lead early, leading the match 2-0, the team found themselves struggling in the third and fourth set, when the Mustangs began to make a comeback to tie the match, 2-2.

“The first two sets, we played really well, but we let up a little in the third,” said Preston.

In the third and fourth set of the match, the Marauders began to not play to their potential, which gave the Mustangs some added confidence.

“The third and fourth set we just didn’t look like we were paying attention to the details as much. We weren’t as engaged in the match. We were playing, but we weren’t completely on top of things and it cost us.”

Preston believes that the Marauders serving got a little out of control, which the Mustangs capitalized on and took advantage of in the third and fourth sets.

“Our serving pressure got a little loose. We started to miss some and the ones that we were putting in, weren’t putting them under any strain. Because we weren’t putting them under as much serving pressure, their offence began to get smoother,” added Preston.

Although most would be panicked in a comeback situation, against a team that is on their home court, and feeling confident, Preston and his team were cool, calm and collected going into the fifth set, which is exactly what ended up bringing them to the win.

“I really like how we handle ourselves in those situations; we don’t panic. It is composure and confidence. A lot of teams want it and coaches know that it is a necessary ingredient, but our [players] know how to play games on a line. We don’t panic, we stick together,” said Preston.

The Marauders have proven their ability to keep their composure in pressured situations. In the past six games they have played (preseason included), they have gone to five sets four times. Out of those four times, they have been able to come out on the other end victorious for all of them.

In their victory against Western, Preston made sure to credit outside hitter Jori Mantha in the win.

“Jori Mantha was ridiculous. Stephen Maar and Jayson McCarthy got some kills and stuff, but a portion of that is the attention that Jori is drawing…Jayson and Stephen played very well. Our middles did cheap viagra ship next day as well, but Jori was really good. He was very efficient, very calculated and a go-to guy the whole time.”

Besides the individual efforts, it is clear that the entire team has the confidence, and faith in themselves to pull off a big win, and Preston has the same amount of confidence and faith in his team as well.

“I have 100% faith. You get the right kids, who are here for the right reasons, you got faith…Panic of ‘will this person do what is required’, not at all. I trust them. When it comes down to that, these [players] get it.”

This game is in the past now, and crossed off the list. Preston takes each game, and dissects it as not just a building block, but also a process to where they would like to be in the peak of their season – which will be at the OUA, and CIS Championships.

But before they think too far ahead, they will need to try and beat the Toronto Varsity Blues, a team that will try to take down the Marauders early on so they do not get over-confident

“Getting two wins in a row was important to us, but they are over. We got to move on and Toronto is coming in trying to knock us off, we know that. We are prepared for that. We are focused still on our side of the net.”

The Marauders will bring this focus into the game against the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. in the Burridge Gym.