[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
Just over two weeks ago, posters were plastered on walls around campus advertising the McMaster Men’s Volleyball home and season opener on Oct. 8 against Waterloo — last year’s OUA silver medalists. For Marauder volleyball fans the opener held a lot of anticipation since this men’s team finished third at CIS nationals last year and entered this season ranked the No. 1 team in the country.
On Oct. 8 McMaster took the first two sets easily and Waterloo battled back in the third and fourth sets to force a deciding fifth set. McMaster turned to outside hitter Stephen Maar who scored a game-high 29 points to help put the pesky Warriors away in the fifth set, with a score of 15-8 that gave McMaster the 3-2 match victory.
Fast-forward to last Friday and Waterloo received another crack at McMaster — this time in their own gym.
In what Head Coach Dave Preston expected to be a dogfight, the McMaster Men went out on the road and dominated Waterloo taking the match in straight sets (25-16, 25-22, 25-15) pushing McMaster’s record to 5-0 on the season.
“I think the biggest things contributing to a better win this time were our serving and our defense,” Preston said.
“The biggest factor from when we played them two weeks ago was our serving. We served really, really tough this time around,” said Preston. “Not just speed tough, but strategically tough. We took some good options away from their offense. I thought our serving was outstanding.”
Serving well is key because it disrupts the opponent’s ability to transition smoothly into their attack.
“We want our serving pressure to be a staple. I think the better we serve, the better we can play defense,” said Preston.
Their great serving caused problems for Waterloo’s offense to run their sets because it drew Warrior players out of their positions and left them in less-than-ideal positions open to attack from the Marauders. The disruption of Waterloo’s offense caused by McMaster’s great serving gave McMaster more time to set up on defense. On defense the Marauders caused trouble for the Warriors with their block timing.
“The better we serve, the better our block timing can be because they have fewer options and they’re coming at us at a slower pace. We slow down their tempo, which gives them fewer options making it easier for our defense,” Preston said. When we get our block timing down, then we can get our backcourt set up a little smoother.”
The digs came from all over the place for McMaster on Friday. The Marauders defense was engaged.
Third-year libero Pawel Jedrzejewski had ten digs, fourth-year setter Andrew Kocur had eight, fourth-year outside hitter Stephen Maar had seven, fourth-year outside hitter Jayson McCarthy had six, and second-year outside hitter Andrew Richards added five.
“When you have guys back there that are just scooping stuff up because our block timing is so good, it makes our transition offense that much better. When you’re holding the ball on defense it makes it that much tougher for the opponents to score points,” said Preston.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Marauders saw a more balanced effort compared to their Oct. 8 match against the Warriors where Maar carried the load. At Waterloo, Maar and McCarthy hit double-digits, scoring 14 and 11 points respectively. Fifth-year middle Alex Elliott scored nine points, fourth-year middle Danny Demyanenko scored eight and a half points, and Richards chipped in seven.
“I don’t think we’re as good as we want to be, but it was better. A lot of it was based on our defense. We’re getting our middle and right-side offense more productive so that our left side isn’t the only place that can carry us,” said Preston. “The more we spread it out, the tougher it is to stop us because we’ve got guys coming from everywhere.”
This weekend No. 1 McMaster travels to Toronto. They play the Toronto Varsity Blues on Oct. 14 at 3 p.m. and the No. 10 Ryerson Rams on Oct. 15 at 2 p.m.
While their record is perfect, Coach Preston thinks there is much more to be done.
“I’m satisfied with the progress we’re making, but we’re not even close to where we want to be. I don’t think we’re predictable but we’re not as efficient as we want to be,” Preston said. “As we get more and more productive with our defense, I think our efficiencies will go up too.”
Photo Credit: Jon White/Photo Editor
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
McMaster Men’s Basketball opened their season at home last Wed. Nov. 3 against No. 4 Brock.
The Badgers boasted back-to-back OUA Rookie of the Year winners in forward Dani Elgadi (2014 winner) and guard Johneil Simpson (2015 winner) along with an experienced group that rounded out their starting lineup. Brock went 7-0 against CIS opponents in the preseason, while McMaster’s only preseason loss came to No. 3 McGill. McMaster returned most of their players from last year except for guard Joe Rocca (transferred to Carleton), forward Nathan McCarthy (transferred to Ottawa) and forward Taylor Black who graduated. The Marauders coaching staff also added eight new recruits, and forward Jason Quiring returned to the team after a one-year absence.
The crowd at Burridge for the home opener made it feel like an OUA playoff game. McMaster took a 38-29 lead over Brock to the halftime break but a 31-18 Badgers third quarter swung the lead and momentum in the Badgers favour and they never looked back.
The Badgers won 83-75.
The combination of McMaster missing crucial free throws down the stretch and not being able to consistently secure the ball hurt them in the end. The Marauders turned the ball over 23 times and shot 57.7 percent from the line. Brock scored key second-chance points in the second half as a result of their aggressiveness on the offensive glass and made just enough shots, which made it tough for the Marauders to mount any comeback. Mac had quality opportunities to come back but couldn’t find the bottom of the net.
While the total rebounding battle appears close with McMaster grabbing 37 and Brock grabbing 43, the real disparity is shown on the offensive glass where the Badgers secured 20 offensive rebounds compared to McMaster’s 12. Another staggering stat is that the Badgers scored 25 second-chance points, over a quarter of their point total.
Assistant Coach Seth Wearing knows this has to change going forward.
“Turnovers and offensive boards hurt us against Brock. Offensive boards hurt us a lot,” said Wearing. “We didn’t shoot free throws well either. That didn’t help. Brock’s a good team. They’re No. 4 in the country for a reason.”
On Nov. 7 McMaster made their first ever road trip to Sault Ste. Marie, ON, to play the Algoma Thunderbirds. The banged up Marauders found a way to work with what they had and pulled out a solid 86-56 road victory to even their regular season record at 1-1. Despite the lopsided victory, McMaster shot 56.3 percent from the line and turned over the ball 17 times.
“Algoma was different. Matt Quiring got his first CIS start. We defended and rebounded well. We got out on fast breaks and got easy scores,” said Wearing.
McMaster outrebounded Algoma 35 to 26 and secured nine offensive rebounds.
First-year guard Chris Thompson saw significant playing time and left the coaching staff with a positive impression scoring 13 points in 19 minutes in addition to two assists, three rebounds and three steals. With his tenacious defense and lack of fear of attacking the paint, Thompson could see his role expand a bit more.
“We learned from the Brock game that we needed to play him. The Brock loss taught us that. Other than the fact that we have to limit turnovers and defend our backboard better, we need to play Chris,” Wearing said.
McMaster is trying to figure out their identity and slowly coming to see what works and what doesn’t. It’s about finding a way to play the cards you’re dealt, says Coach Wearing. The Marauders have great pieces if used effectively and efficiently.
“We need to take advantage of our athleticism, our ability to play in transition, and make threes. We need to use our length and athleticism to force turnovers and get out in transition. It has to start with our defense and our ability to force turnovers,” Wearing said.
Photo Credit: Jon White/Photo Editor
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
With the regular season underway for the McMaster Women’s Basketball team, fans are reminded of the fast-paced style of play that has become synonymous with the team. They play fast, pass the ball well and an excitement is felt from the deep bench whenever a shot is made from a teammate.
These are the kind of things witnessed when watching a McMaster women’s basketball game. The hard work comes alive in practice and translates to success on the court.
The Women’s Basketball team has constantly been making progressive steps in the right direction. Interim head coach Anne Marie Thuss has been able to witness it all from the sidelines.
“The leadership of the women has been the driving force. They know what’s expected and what’s needed at the next level to be successful and to continue the high level of play. Their commitment in practice to work hard and execution has been phenomenal,” said Thuss.
For people who are familiar with the team, there are a few names and faces that stick out. Probably the most telling story of growth on the team comes from fourth-year guard Siobhan Manning. From a spot on the bench to a position in the starting line-up, Manning has been playing big minutes and has put many people on notice of the talent that we will continue to see from her.
“Siobhan is one of the most underrated guards. She carries this team and is very confident with the basketball. She can distribute it, but she has also become a threat in terms of her scoring, and passing out of situations has been phenomenal this year. That’s probably the best part of our game and it’s nice to see her grow like that,” said Thuss.
With a ranking of No. 1 spot in the country, the team will continue to do what has been working for them which is continue the style of play we see whenever they are on the hardwood.
“We are a transition team so we have to be able to be quick and everybody has to have that opportunity to score in transition. That’s one of our focuses,” said Thuss.
Though a loss in the quarterfinals crushed the team’s chance at playoffs last year, this new season will be a fresh start to the contest for an OUA banner.
“The expectation is that we challenge for the OUA banner. They have a lot of grit so they work harder than anyone. The expectation is to do that in every practice.”
Not only does this team win on the court, but they also bring that mentality to their day-to-day life as they are heavily involved with various community initiatives. The players take part in sport clinics and have become mentors to many youth in the Hamilton basketball community. Their ability to help others shows immensely on the court where no one person thinks they can do it all alone.
For this close-knit group, the opportunities of success are boundless.
It will be interesting to see how far this team goes this season, but one thing is for certain: they are hungry and are definitely making a case for themselves.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
For McMaster Women’s Rugby, the last two years have been a dream. A dream that has become a reality for a program still getting used to championship status. The program has back-to-back OUA banners under the leadership of a head coach in only his second year with the program.
Having already made a name for themselves in the world of Canadian university women’s rugby, it is not surprising that the Marauders have often held a comfortable lead against the majority of their opponents this season. Winning a game is one thing, but dominating teams by more than 60 points is another, and is a very telling sign of the quality and skill of this program.
It is no doubt that the national recognition of the program has gained a bigger following of fans and rugby faithfuls. Many might not be too familiar with the program years before the championships. Playing on the team for five years, fullback Rina Charalampis has seen the program develop in calibre and confidence.
“I saw the program change a lot. I think that we pride ourselves on being a program that is not well known. Trusting in our system is critical and we are always trying to go over our mindset. We set a goal on offense and defense. When we reach that goal, we are able to move forward,” said Charalampis.
Ending the regular season with four wins and one loss, the team’s most competitive and emotional game took place in front of a large crowd at Varsity Field when the Marauders took on the Guelph Gryphons for a game deciding the home of the OUA banner and another shot at a national championship. For some players on the team, it was their first time playing an OUA championship game. For others, this OUA championship game would be the last of their athletic career at McMaster.
Defending a title can be difficult and nerve-wracking, but the team took that pressure, turned it into a positive and used it to their advantage.
After an intense competition, McMaster was named the OUA champion for the second year in a row with a final score of 21-13.
The celebration after the final whistle was blown was one of humility and real emotion.
“In our game against Guelph, we were down at one point but we were only down in the sense of the score and not ourselves,” said Charalampis.
The Marauders made an appearance at last year’s CIS Championship and finished second. The team has been preparing for another chance at national victory for a year. Every practice, regular season win and emotion-filled game will boil down to this weekend in Kingston for the 2015 CIS Women’s Rugby Championship.
“We were definitely hungry. After last season ended on Sunday in Guelph, we were already hungry to start for next year. We had a few weeks off and went right into training. Our mindset was we wanted to be back in the exact same position playing in that CIS final. That is exactly what we wanted and nothing was going to stop us.”
Photo Credit: Karen Stepien
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
Layering is something you do to add on to a pre-existing foundation. By its very nature, the term deals with building off of something. In volleyball it could be synonymous with improvement. Volleyball is a sport where everything is determined by the previous contact. How you handle the first contact affects the second contact, which in turn, affects the third contact.
Last weekend, McMaster Men’s Volleyball won two matches at home in straight sets. On Oct. 30 they beat Nipissing 25-8, 25-16, 25-20. Halloween evening saw them treat fans to 25-15, 25-22, and 25-17 set wins over York. These two victories pushed McMaster’s overall record to 4-0.
McMaster added layers to their on-court execution from their season-opening wins to get these recent victories. They improved on their passing percentages and their defensive speed (i.e. their responses to opponents’ attack attempts). Prior to these games, Head Coach Dave Preston wanted his team to work on balancing their scoring and their defensive speed. Those are the two layers he wanted to add.
His team did just that.
McMaster Men’s Volleyball coaching staff has “performance standards” where they rank each skill (such as passing or serving) on a zero to four scale, where a score of four is perfect by their performance standards.
“We passed a three out of a four on our performance standards scale. It was perfect,” said Preston. “Our passing has continued to stabilize itself and now we can start to build off of that. It’s all fundamental and progressive.”
The increase in passing speed is an improvement in their defensive speed and also helps their offense.
“If your setter is playing well, then your offense is going to run better, but you have to put the ball in your setter’s hands with some regularity. So our passing needs to be there first and then your setting and then you need to make efficient attacks out of that,” said Preston. “It’s all linked. Our first contact was really good this weekend so that set up our attacks well.”
Against Waterloo and RMC two weeks ago McMaster attacked at decent percentages, but improved significantly last weekend in terms of their attacks out of service receptions.
“We took our attack efficiencies from nine and 12 percent against Waterloo and RMC to 30 and 43 percent against Nipissing and York. Our offense was much more in sync and a lot of that is due to our setter Andrew Kocur,” said Preston. “A lot of people won’t recognize that. His setting speed and setting decisions were great. He was a better setter this week and as a result, we were a better team.”
On the defensive side of things, McMaster showed improvement as well, especially against York.
“We knew we had to control York’s middles and that requires speed. You have to be engaged right away. You can’t wait for that ball to go outside and get yourself into position late,” Preston said. “I thought our defensive engagement was really good and therefore, I thought our speed out of and into digs was pretty good.”
That’s the increase in defensive speed he desired.
In his eyes, his team improved in both offensively and defensively this past week. He hopes that this progressive layering of skills continues to translate to on-court execution and improvement.
“Our next layer is making sure our transition is proper. We make a dig then we make a good decision out of what we have available and we set the right ball,” said Preston. “Our initial defensive speed was good and now we’re going to increase our transition speed.”
McMaster will travel to Waterloo this Friday for a rematch at 8 p.m. against a good Waterloo team that took McMaster to five sets just two weeks ago. This time around is a bit different because Waterloo’s gym is known for its offset setup that affects depth perception on the court. Waterloo is one of the toughest gyms to play in.
“They know us really well. We know them really well. We’re in for a tough one and they’re coming off of a loss so they’re going to be angry and hungry,” Preston said. “They’ve probably had this match marked on their calendar for a couple months. We know what we’re walking into but we’re also going to be very prepared for it.”
If the Marauders can add another layer to their already improving on-court performance, a victory on the road at a tough venue shouldn’t be out of reach.
“It’s November. It’s still relatively early in our season. We’re four matches into a 20-match season,” said Preston. “We’ll be okay, but we’ve been getting better every week and that’s what we want.”
Photo Credit: Jon White/Photo Editor
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
There will be a new Yates Cup champion this year.
“Birds flying high” are the lyrics the McMaster Marauders run onto the field to, but on Saturday those words rung truer for the Laurier Golden Hawks.
Both schools have flight as the common theme of their mascots, but the story of this game was all action on the ground.
Led by the 259 rushing yards from Laurier running back Dillon Campbell, the No. 6 Laurier Golden Hawks upset the No. 3 McMaster Marauders 29-15 to advance to the OUA semifinals. Laurier simply stole the show from McMaster in their OUA Football Quarterfinal game at Ron Joyce Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 31.
There is no other way to put it.
Far from an aerial assault team, McMaster Offensive Coordinator Jon Behie thinks Laurier did enough through the air with a couple explosive plays to keep the McMaster defense honest.
“They’re not a team that will call 80 percent pass plays and get 500 yards on you, but they’re dangerous,” Behie said.
On the very first play of the game second-year Golden Hawks quarterback Eric Morelli threw a deep ball to wide receiver Carson Ouellette for a 46-yard gain. That was the beginning of a five-play, 70-yard touchdown drive. On their third drive Laurier pulled out the trickery and continued to attack the McMaster secondary with a Wide Receiver Reverse Pass that saw wide receiver Daniel Bennett hit fellow wide receiver Zeph Fraser for a 49-yard gain. In the second quarter a Golden Hawks five-play, 98-yard touchdown drive was jumpstarted by a Morelli pass to Bennett for a 56-yard completion.
“I think they had some shots dialed up. They had a gameplan for stuff they saw on film and wanted to exploit”, said Behie. “They didn’t have to pass a lot on Saturday but they dialed up some shots and they worked. Give them full credit for executing.”
Although those few plays were Laurier’s demonstration of explosiveness through the air, the slow and steady pounding on the ground throughout the entire game eventually became too much for McMaster. On the ground, Laurier more than established their rushing attack amassing 327 total rushing yards on 44 carries. This was allowed by a McMaster defense that was first in the OUA in rushing yards allowed conceding 122.8 yards/game on the ground to opponents.
“Dillon Campbell is one of the best backs in OUA history. He was the OUA MVP last year and giving the ball to him 40 times is smart on their behalf. Their offensive line played a great game and we just weren’t able to do anything about it,” Behie said.
McMaster’s usually potent pass offense was muzzled in a way on Saturday. Despite completing 20 passes on 31 attempts for 320 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, McMaster quarterback Asher Hastings was sacked four times and flushed out of the pocket several times.
His rhythm was disrupted by Laurier’s defensive front.
Prior to this game, Hastings was sacked 10 times in eight games. The Golden Hawks defense almost racked up half of that. It was uncharacteristic for a Marauders offensive line that has been great at protecting their record-breaking signal caller all year.
“Our strength of our offense this year has been keeping our quarterback clean and giving him a clean pocket to set his feet and find our receivers and that wasn’t necessarily the case on Saturday,” said Behie. “Full credit to Laurier’s front four. They played outstanding.”
McMaster can only look back on this tough loss and learn from it. Spring training camp will come soon enough but the Marauders’ football season was definitely cut abruptly short.
“I think anyone in our organization would say that we underachieved. We thought we were capable of a lot more. We’re extremely disappointed and we think we’re better than that. Our fans, student body, and campus deserves better than that. I think we have to remain motivated to work harder in the offseason to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Behie.
Next for McMaster football are season evaluations and recruiting. Nothing specific can be said about next year now as it’s way too early and the loss is still fresh, but the outlook remains positive.
“Our coaches will attend clinics and staff meetings to evaluate and figure out our next steps and we’ll continue to evolve and improve. Now our main focus is on recruiting and getting the best possible class for 2016,” Behie said.
McMaster finished 6-3 overall this season.
Photo Credit: Daniel Higgins
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
For the first time in McMaster cross country history, both the men’s and women’s teams found a place on the podium together. With the team points and finish times noted, both teams ranked third overall and received bronze medals at the OUA Championships in Waterloo.
The men’s team repeated as OUA bronze medalists while the women’s position on the podium was more of an upset.
Team captain Maddy McDonald led the way by finishing 16th overall and crossing the line first for the team. Emily Nowak finished two places behind McDonald. The third place runner for McMaster was Gabrielle Foran, with the fourth and fifth places going to Chelsea Mackinnon and Maddie Benjamin. The last two runners were Lauren Locco and Soren Meeuwisse, finishing 32nd and 43rd respectively. McMaster’s team total was 103 points.
The Women’s Cross Country program, currently ranked fourth in the nation continues to make great strides in solidifying their spot amongst cross country powerhouses. Team captain Maddy McDonald feels that the bronze place was one that showed great improvement for the team.
“Earlier in the season, we did not make the Top Ten ranking. We felt that we had more to prove. Our training and our fitness was going well. Everything worked well in the day and it was really exciting for us,” said McDonald.
With a sport like cross country, individual finish times are just as important as the team’s. Team points are concluded from the addition of individual times so it is clear that every second counts.
For the team to improve on individual and team bests, training is crucial for the success of the team. The team trains outside five to six times a week and workouts take place three times a week.
“Going into the CIS Championships, our ranking this week is a huge motivation for us and it is attainable,” said McDonald.
Both teams have a week away from competition to train and direct their efforts to the CIS Championships, hosted by the Guelph Gryphons on Nov. 14.
“Before going into a race, we remind ourselves of the work that has been put in and all of the hours of running and strength has been done. It is about being proud of our effort no matter the outcome,” said McDonald.
The men’s and women’s teams will look to bring it all together and bring some more hardware back to McMaster.
Photo Credit: Maxine Gravina
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
The No. 6 McMaster Marauders concluded their 2015 regular season with a 46-24 loss to the No. 2 Western Mustangs at Ron Joyce Stadium last Saturday. McMaster finished 6-2 with wins over Toronto, Ottawa, York, Windsor, Waterloo, and Laurier. The Marauders’ only two losses came at the hands of Guelph and Western.
This season was one that saw multiple Marauders break records. Second-year quarterback Asher Hastings broke the school record, the OUA record and the CIS record for touchdown passes in a season. Hastings ended the season completing 203/284 passes (71.5 percent completion rate) for 2,586 yards, and 31 touchdown passes to just five interceptions. Second-year wide receiver Dan Petermann broke the school record for most receptions in a season hauling in 61 balls for 831 yards and nine touchdowns. Third-year wide receiver Danny Vandervoort broke the school record for most touchdown receptions in a season with 11. These milestones are just a testament to the potency of McMaster’s offense.
On the defensive side of the ball, McMaster forced ten turnovers this year (nine interceptions and one forced fumble) and had one defensive touchdown. The nine interceptions ranked sixth in the OUA and this is impressive considering the Marauders secondary was relatively young in comparison to previous units Mac has fielded in the past. Moving closer to the trenches, McMaster’s front seven showed their ability to wreak havoc up front posting 27 sacks on the season, which was good for second in the OUA. Second-year linebacker Jake Heathcote picked off opposing quarterbacks four times giving him the second-best interception total in the CIS only behind Calgary’s Robert Woodson and Waterloo’s Jordan Hoover who have five interceptions each. Fourth year defensive lineman Mike Kashak was responsible for almost a third of McMaster’s total sacks with 8.5 sacks on the year, which is second in the CIS.
In the latest CIS Top 10 poll McMaster kept their No. 6 spot and secured the No. 3 seed in the OUA. The OUA playoff picture begins with a Halloween afternoon tilt between No. 3 McMaster and No. 6 Laurier. In their meeting just two weeks ago at Laurier, McMaster won 30-21.
The OUA quarterfinal game takes place on Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. at Ron Joyce Stadium.
Photo Credit: Daniel Higgins
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
In the past three weeks McMaster Men’s Volleyball went on an international tour in Poland, and played (and won) the first two games of the season. In Poland they played five matches and also had the privilege of visiting Auschwitz, which Head Coach Dave Preston referred to as “a valuable life experience.”
Four of the five matches in Poland came against pro teams from Poland’s PlusLiga League, which is the league that produces the highest level of men’s competitive volleyball in Poland. The other game was against the junior team of a PlusLiga team.
Upon returning to campus after the fall break, the Marauders went straight into match week to prepare for their home and season opener against Waterloo on Friday, Oct. 23 and a match against RMC on Oct. 24. The first CIS Men’s Volleyball Top 10 of the season was released earlier last week and McMaster entered their season opener ranked No. 1 in the country.
In their season opener against Waterloo — last year’s OUA silver medalists — McMaster jumped out and took a quick two-set lead before struggling to put Waterloo away until the fifth set.
“If anybody was expecting a cakewalk, that would’ve been a bad expectation. We knew that we were in for a battle. The first two sets we were on our game, but I think the next two sets we showed mental and physical fatigue from the hangover from the Europe trip,” said Preston. “We just didn’t have that extra gear until the fifth set when we found it again.”
This theme of finishing games in close sets has been a common one so far. In Poland, McMaster lost matches in close sets that were tight battles.
“It’s really good for us to be exposed at that level early in the season because we can address it now,” said Preston. “Sure enough that’s exactly what happened Friday night against Waterloo. In the fifth set we needed to make some plays down the stretch and we did.”
In the fifth set McMaster turned to fourth-year outside hitter Stephen Maar, who had been a total offensive force the entire game, to help put the Warriors away. McMaster won 3-2 (25-17, 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 15-8).
“I think that fifth set was the best set we played so far this year against any opponent in terms of giving ourselves defensive chances and it showed,” Preston said.
Maar stood out scoring a game-high 29 points on 25 kills, one service ace, and three solo blocks.
“He’s a terrific attacker. Thankfully Steve stepped up and took over things in the fifth set, but that’s not something we want to get used to,” Preston said. “In the fifth set we leaned on him and thankfully he’s talented enough that he can do that. Relying on him is not something we want to get in the habit of doing, but it’s kind of a safety valve that’s there when you need it.”
Preston wants the team to be more balanced in terms of their offensive scoring moving forward and McMaster’s depth and balance across their lineup affirms the potential in that. Even on nights when a few players are stealing the show on the court, the whole team shares in the success.
“I think that’s something that separates our team culture. When one guy makes a play, there are 17 other guys who are genuinely excited for him as much as he is,” Preston said. “I think that’s part of the culture we’ve built and the respect the guys have for each other.”
The following night majority of the McMaster starters got a rest and the others got a chance to get their first significant OUA game action of the year against RMC. McMaster’s bench played a great game and put RMC away in straight sets (25-22, 25-20, 25-16). Preston uses this analogy of a machine to describe his team. Each player is a vital part that contributes to the efficient and effective functioning of the machine. The common theme remains to be this complimentary relationship between depth and rhythm. Depth is the ability to seamlessly interchange players into the lineup and rhythm is being able to keep up that same playing speed the starters play at.
“When we make substitutions we have to keep the machine going. We’ve got to be able to interchange some parts but keep the machine rolling,” said Preston. “It was a good weekend because we didn’t overplay anybody and we built a little bit more depth.”
That depth should pay dividends for this battle-tested McMaster team as the season progresses.
In the latest CIS Top 10 poll McMaster remained at No. 1 and hosts Nipissing on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. and York on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m.
Photo Credit: Jon White/Photo Editor
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
[adrotate banner="16"]
[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]
Regina, Saskatchewan is almost 2,600 kilometres away from McMaster. That’s the distance Marauders’ starting quarterback Asher Hastings travelled in fall 2014 to officially make Mac his home. Hastings is in his second year, double majoring in Psychology and Sociology.
Prior to arriving on campus last fall, Hastings played four years of junior football for the Regina Thunder of the Canadian Junior Football League winning a national championship and a few individual awards that garnered the attention of national press. While playing for the Thunder, Hastings attended the University of Regina for two and a half years before transferring to Mac. McMaster’s wide receivers coach Al Anonech and former Marauders quarterback Kyle Quinlan stumbled upon Hastings’ YouTube highlight tape and relayed it to Head Coach Stefan Ptaszek. Soon after that Hastings took a recruiting trip to Mac.
Having spent all of last year as Marshall Ferguson’s backup, Hastings was ready for the limelight once his time came this year. In the sixth game of the season, he broke the OUA record for most touchdown passes in a season against the Waterloo Warriors on Oct. 8.
The record breaking is number is 25 touchdown passes. After this weekend’s 31-20 victory at Laurier, Hastings pushed that figure to 29 TD passes for the season (first in the OUA) and is now one TD pass shy of breaking the CIS record held by former Saint Mary’s Huskies QB Chris Flynn. That record has been intact for 26 years. Hastings’ completion rate is a stellar 72.4 percent (also first in the OUA); he has thrown for 2,300 yards (third in the OUA) and averages 328.6 yards per game (third in the OUA). The casual observer shines the spotlight on the quarterback’s arm but Hastings knows a collective effort is a key ingredient to his success.
“The biggest thing has been the play-calling in the redzone. It’s up to the coaches and what they want to run. We have a pretty dynamic receiving core,” said Hastings. “If you want to double cover Danny Vandervoort, we’ll throw it to Max Cameron, Dan Petermann, Josh Vanderweerd, Mitch O’Connor, or Declan Cross. I think our biggest strength is being dynamic in the redzone and being able to throw the ball to anybody.”
McMaster’s depth and skill at wide receiver tells the opposing defense to pick their poison. The amount of capable receivers at Hastings’ disposal forces other teams to play Mac honest because, on any given day, it could be a different guy catching Hastings’ passes. The versatility of Mac’s passing game is a big reason Hastings is breaking records. Danny Vandervoort has the school record for most TD receptions in a season with ten. Saturday at Laurier, Dan Petermann became the proud new holder of the school record for receptions in a season with 56 catches. The previous record was 52, held by Mike Bradwell.
In order to hit these receivers Hastings needs time in the pocket. That time has been provided by the protection of his stout offensive line, which gives up a little over a sack a game.
“They’re unbelievable. All five of those guys would do anything for me on and off the field. I love those guys so much. They’re great friends, great guys in the locker room, and great football players,” said Hastings. “McMaster has a reputation for recruiting enormous offensive linemen and so there’s a real feeling of safety when I’m in the game. I owe it all to them.”
Hastings’ skill-set as a true pocket passer is a bit of a change from the past two signal callers at Mac. Quinlan and Ferguson were more dual-threat than Hastings. Hastings openly admits he’s not much of a threat outside of the pocket, but stats show he is a killer within the pocket.
“I really have a specific set of skills meaning I’m not well-rounded so I have a very specific idea of what I like to run. I think my strength is the ability to make any throw,” Hastings said. “My biggest strengths are my ability to read defenses, make good decisions with the football and make any throw on the field.”
Logically speaking, a pass-heavy QB would be more prone to throwing interceptions, but that is not the case with Hastings. His claim that reading defenses and making good decisions with the football are his strengths is validated by his almost immaculate 29:4 TD to interception ratio.
“Our philosophy is to protect the football. It’s the golden rule of playing quarterback,” Hastings said. “I have it written on a whiteboard in my room.”
No. 6 McMaster is preparing for their last game of the season against the No. 3 Western Mustangs on Oct. 24. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Photo Credit: Jon White/Photo Editor
