The team has moved to a perfect record of 17 wins as they look to close out the final three games of their season on the road
The countdown is on; after a perfect 12-win record in 2021-2022, the men’s volleyball team continue their efforts to repeat their perfect results this year. Before finishing the season, they will face off against the York University Lions on Feb. 11, the Toronto Metropolitan University Bold on Feb. 17, and the Toronto University Varsity Blues on Feb. 19. The Varsity Blues present the biggest challenge as a provincial championship rematch from last season, despite the Marauders having already taken them down earlier this year.
The last few games played really show what the team is capable of as they increased their record to 17 consecutive wins. In January they faced off against the Waterloo University Warriors and the Lions, who rank second and third in the Ontario University Athletics standings respectively. They swept the Warriors three wins to none and disposed of the Lions three wins to one.
Another extremely impressive showing came against the Royal Military College Paladins. The Paladins rank last in the standings, having yet to win a game this season. However, it was the final line score that really impressed. McMaster University would win their sets by final scores of 25 to 16, 25 to eight and 25 to six, executing a blowout through and through in their final home games of the year.
Despite the season long success, the possibility of the perfect record is still in question following star Sam Cooper suffering a foot fracture, which will keep him sidelined for the remainder of the regular season. Last season Cooper was named an OUA all-star, made the U Sports second team all-Canadian, and was named to the Canadian senior national team. He is a major loss, but is eying a playoff return.
Despite the season long success, the possibility of the perfect record is still in question following star Sam Cooper suffering a foot fracture, which will keep him sidelined for the remainder of the regular season.
Thus far the team hasn’t shown any signs of weakness without him in their recent matches, showing the strength of the team depth. Their ambitions remain high as stars like Mateusz Wlodarski and Maxime Gratton continue to shoulder the load, and breakouts like Brendan Mills have stepped up when needed.
“Our guys are really working hard, they know what’s at stake. . . They’ve got a great opportunity in front of them, and thus far they’re really doing a great job of taking advantage of that,” said Dave Preston, the team’s head coach.
Preston had an especially emotional couple of games in their final home stretch, as he will be retiring following the end of this season. In Preston’s time at McMaster, the Marauders would see 10 provincial championship victories, the first having come in the 2007-2008 season. Prior to the game against the Paladins on Feb. 3, McMaster held a pre-game ceremony to honor the reigning OUA coach of the year.
“It tugged at my heart strings pretty good. . . [my family is] woven into that fabric of the team, so it was pretty cool. I didn’t realize until midway through the tribute that it was my daughters that were doing the voice over work. It’s been 21 years here, my family has grown up here, we’ve bled maroon for a long time, so it meant a lot to us,” explained Preston.
"It’s been 21 years here, my family has grown up here, we’ve bled maroon for a long time, so it meant a lot to us.”
Dave Preston, Men's Volleyball Coach
Preston has long had the respect of his athletes and as much as he tried to keep his cool through his final home games ever to let the players focus on the game, the team knew what the game meant and what they were playing for.
“When I saw Dave’s family come down to greet him after [the ceremony] it honestly made me throw a tear, really fired me up. . . It feels really good to have such a convincing win and doing what we said we were going to do at home, especially for a moment like that,” said Wlodarski.
Despite the special circumstances between the ceremony for Preston, as well as seniors night on day two of the back-to-back to honor the graduates of the team — Wlodarski, Wojciech Kraj and Jason Wildeboer — the Marauders still kept their professional tone of taking the game in stride and looking at the bigger picture rather than celebrating the smaller victories along the way, taking on the “mamba mentality” perspective.
“We don’t really think of the set score as a gauge of how we’re doing, it’s more so a reflection of the preparation and the work we’re putting in. . . Team goals are to secure as much home court as possible for the playoffs,” said Wlodarski.
With the U Sports national championship taking place at McMaster this March, there is an opportunity for a picture-perfect ending for Preston’s time at the school. Between the newfound motivation for the team, the possibility of a perfect regular season record, the home court advantage all the way through nationals and the potential return of Sam Cooper just in time for the playoffs, the Marauders have all the momentum they can possibly ask for.
When it comes to questioning the goals and ambitions for the Marauders this season, nobody puts it as well as the head coach.
“I think that answer is pretty clear,” said Preston.
“I think that answer is pretty clear.”
Dave Preston, Men's Volleyball Coach
The sound of the final whistle at Ron Joyce on Saturday Oct. 20 signified the end of the 2012 OUA regular season. The Marauders, victorious by a margin of 43-0 over the visiting Laurier Golden Hawks, have finished the season without suffering a loss at home, or a loss on the road for that matter. For the first time since 2003, McMaster has gone undefeated. In fact, Mac is the only team in the entire country to have won each game it played this year, holding on to the No. 1 CIS ranking from the first week.
Stepping onto the field this year as defending national champions, the Maroon and Grey carried with them the pressures of a repeat from a school that has fallen in love with the idea of winning and a community that for the first time in its storied 125 year history, knows what it feels like to be at the top.
Once at the pinnacle however, there is very little room for improvement. The Marauders won the Vanier Cup last year after a regular season result of 7-1, a singular loss that separated Mac from perfection. Naturally, there was one thing to fix.
Coming into this season, McMaster suffered only minor losses from their championship-winning roster to graduation. Also, Lineman Jason Medeiros and star Quarterback Kyle Quinlan were invited to CFL camps with a chance to begin their pro careers. Both players made Mac proud by strong showings at the Hamilton Tiger Cats and Montreal Alouettes training camps respectively.
Though, by the time Marauders camp rolled around in August, both players were ready to defend the National Championship for their school. The stars seemed aligned for the team to return the Vanier Cup to 1280 Main St. West.
Unfortunately, nothing in sports is guaranteed. As the first weeks of the season progressed, several Marauders went down to injury. Star receiver Michael DiCroce, widely considered to be amongst the best players in the country, was forced to sit out the regular season due to injury. Furthermore, sophomore running back Christopher Pezzetta, who was outstanding as a rookie, especially in the playoffs, suffered a season-ending knee injury. In turn, Pezzetta’s backup Kasean Davis suffered a season ending injury of his own against the Western Mustangs during week five.
Somehow, the Marauders found a way through adversity, much like they had the year before. And they did it in record-breaking fashion.
The team has not recorded a loss since September 10, 2011, breaking a CIS record for consecutive victories, previously held by Laval (who Mac beat in the Vanier Cup Final). The defense led the entire CIS in interceptions for the third straight season and the offense was the best overall in the country.
Individually, linebacker Ben D’Aguilar set a CIS record for quarterback sacks in a season with 12.5. Perhaps the most notable record however, is one set a little closer to home.
Midway through the second quarter of Saturday’s game against Laurier the game was stopped for a brief moment. McMaster had just scored a touchdown thanks to Kyle Quinlan throwing his 19th touchdown of the season. While that mark put the Mac pivot atop the nation in that category this year, it was something else that had brought the game to a pause.
With a one-yard touchdown pass to first year receiver Josh Vandeweerd, Quinlan had set a new school record for passing touchdowns in a career with 60. Ben Chapdelaine who played for Mac in the late 90’s and early 2000’s held the former mark of 59. Quinlan, who has brought to McMaster its first and only national championship in school history, now has placed his name at the top of statistical categories for his position. To boot, in his final year as a McMaster Marauder, Quinlan has a chance to win another title. No team has won back-to-back Vanier Cups since Laval accomplished the feat in 2003 and 2004.
After an 8-0, first place finish, the Marauders have the week off with an automatic Yates Cup semi-final birth, awaiting the lowest remaining seed of this weekend’s Quarterfinal match-ups.
Though the team is surely going to take this playoff run day to day and game to game, one cannot help but notice that the Maroon and Grey are only three wins away from making an appearance in the Vanier Cup final on Nov. 23 at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. Even more to their advantage, each of the games remaining leading up to the Vanier - should McMaster progress - will be played in very familiar surroundings: Ron Joyce Stadium. The Marauders have won eight straight games at home dating back to last season, winning by no less then two scores in each of those victories.
The Yates Cup Semi-final will kick off at 4 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 3, and just who Mac will be playing is going to be decided by this weekend’s games pitting Windsor against Western and Queen’s against Laurier. Now it gets serious.
