As the OUA postseason approaches for women's volleyball team, here is who to keep an eye on in the playoff journey
Another regular season has come and gone for McMaster University’s women's volleyball team. As spring approaches, the team enters the Ontario University Athletics playoffs sitting in fourth place.
The team managed to finish the season with an impressive 14 and six record. They faced losses from Toronto Metropolitan University, Brock University, Waterloo University, Western University and University of Toronto, but showed up big in other matches such as their sweeping wins against Nipissing University and Royal Military College.
As the team heads into the OUA playoffs, there is a lot at stake for the team’s veteran players. The core of this year’s team consists of many graduating stars, including three middle blockers Ellie Hatashita, Ana Strbac and Paige Vrolyk and setter Christina Stratford.
Despite the graduating class, the team has done well in incorporating its younger players. With a long and grueling regular season behind them, this is something that helped the team to be sitting comfortably in fourth place.
“All five of them first year players have been able to contribute in many different ways and all five of them have seen the court in an OUA game, which is something super exciting which doesn’t normally happen, especially in the sport of volleyball with only six on the court. The fact that all five of them have been able to contribute in different ways, it's super important not only for them but for the team in the future,” said Stratford.
Some of the team’s notable younger performers are Sullie Sundara, who leads the team in total kills, and Chayse Victoria who has given an impressive 162 assists this season. Along with help from veteran performers and rookies with experience, the Marauders look back at the regular season with pride, and are looking to continue strongly into the postseason.
“We’ve learned how to battle and we’ve never gone into a game thinking we had it. We knew we had to work. The reality was that we’d never have an easy way out. We’d have to be resilient and find a way to win,” explained Stratford.
"We’ve learned how to battle and we’ve never gone into a game thinking we had it. We knew we had to work. The reality was that we’d never have an easy way out. We’d have to be resilient and find a way to win"
Christina Stratford, McMaster University women's volleyball team setter
The Marauders face the York University Lions in their first playoff match. The two teams are no strangers to each other, as they’ve met twice at The Burridge this season already. Both matches saw the Marauders beat the Lions in convincing fashion, winning three sets to one.
Though the teams have met during the regular season, this does not reflect the do or die nature of the playoffs. The Marauders must win to advance to the semifinals.
“Playoffs is a different game, we’re not going in like “oh it's York we’ll be fine". Our mentality is we’ve got to beat every team we see in front of us until we hold a cup. We’re treating every game as if it were a blank slate,” said Stratford.
Their fourth place finish gives the Marauders hosting rights over sixth place York in the upcoming game. The two teams will meet at The Burridge on Saturday Feb. 25 at 6:00 p.m. in a battle for the Quigley Cup.
McMaster wins four straight meets in preparation for their upcoming playoff stretch
The McMaster University wrestling team remains undefeated after consecutive team victories at four meets to open their season. Displaying the deep depth of talent across their roster, the Marauders picked up 16 gold medals to rank nationally as the third and sixth best men and women’s teams respectively.
At the McMaster Invitational in November, their first meet of the year, the Marauders placed first overall. Combining for 13 medals and 85 points, both the men and women’s teams put forward dominant efforts to defend home territory and started the year off strong.
The team went on to top their meets at the Toronto Metropolitan University Invitational and the York Open, both of which took place in November. Of their 22 medals from both events, 10 came from members of this year’s recruitment class, who have quickly impressed thus far with their ability to compete with university talent.
First year sensation Gregor McNeil earned the title of U Sports men’s wrestling athlete of the week on Nov. 16 following a three match sweep at TMU. In the 61kg finals, McNeil earned the win 10 to zero against Brock veteran Garette Saunders, a former U Sports silver medalist in the 54kg and 57kg events.
A similar standout on the women’s side, rookie Serena Di Benedetto collected three gold medals in her matches at McMaster, TMU and York. Having gone undefeated at these invitationals, Di Bennedetto was awarded the U Sports women’s wrestling athlete of the week on Nov. 23.
In their last event of 2022, the team also competed at the Hamilton Wrestling Club for the Ontario Senior Open at Brock University. Wrestling at Canada Games Park, the Marauders were outstanding, finishing 18 points above the silver medaling London-Western WC in a dazzling collective performance.
“Although wrestling is an individual sport, there’s also a really big team aspect because you have to keep each other accountable . . . I think our team is just extremely strong this year, better than any team we’ve had previous,” said Di Bennedetto.
Gold medalists for the meet include Di Bennedetto (53kg), Olivia Lichti (59kg) and Karanveer Mahil (125kg), all of whom are newly recruited to McMaster’s flourishing wrestling program this year.
Following their showing at the Ontario Senior Open, the maroon and grey team continued their stretch of appearances inside the U Sports power rankings. The men’s team is currently placed third with 40 points behind the Alberta Golden Bears and Brock Badgers. The women’s team is ranked sixth in the country with 26 points.
“All the other athletes are very inviting. That’s the main [reason] why I chose this school over the other ones. The family that they have going on is really good . . . Just this first year’s been fun so far,” said Mahil.
Individually, Di Bennedetto, McNeil and Mahil are ranked first in the women’s 53kg and men’s 61kg and 125kg weight classes respectively. Other notable Marauders include third place ranking athletes Macy Malysiak (59kg), Similoluwa Jayeoba (72kg), Howard Moffatt (90kg) and Omogbai Asekomhe (100kg).
Up next, the team will travel to St. Catharines to compete at the Brock Invitational on Jan. 14. The Marauders will then take the mats at the Guelph Open on Jan. 22 before finishing the campaign in London for the Junior Provincials and the Western Open on Jan. 28 and 29.
Their success so far this season sets McMaster up to improve upon last year’s silver medal finish at the Ontario University Athletics playoffs on Feb. 11.
Exploring the impact of the Women on Weights program offered by the Pulse Fitness Centre
Time constraints. Fear of injuries. Lack of gym knowledge. Looking silly. These are some concerns addressed by trainers through the Women on Weights program offered at the Pulse Fitness Centre.
This six-week program covers various resistance training techniques as well as gym etiquette, aerobic training, nutrition, the importance of exercise and the body. Taught by certified trainers, the program provides fundamental knowledge and skills to enhance participants’ confidence and comfort at the gym.
“When I was starting out by myself, I would have never gone into the gym alone because of that intimidation factor – being in a male-dominated area [or] being surrounded by a lot of machines that you have no idea how to use. The purpose of this program is to engage and teach women of all ages and abilities the importance of exercise,” explained Elizabeth Lang, trainer and life sciences student.
The purpose of this program is to engage and teach women of all ages and abilities the importance of exercise
Elizabeth Lang, Women on Weights program trainer and Life Sciences student
The Pulse was set to offer three Women on Weights classes in the fall semester with ten participants in each class. However, due to popular demand and a growing waitlist, the program was expanded to five classes.
To ease participants into the gym setting, the Women on Weights program is designed to progress in difficulty and slowly introduce participants to new weightlifting movements and machines. Having taught this program twice, Meghan Kostashuk has started to notice similar trends in participants.
“In the first week, a lot of the girls are very shy [or] anxious and have never been in a gym environment or haven’t been in a gym environment since high school. By the time the sixth class rolls around, all the girls are doing movements that they would never ever do, like deadlifting, squatting with a barbell, bench-pressing,” said Kostashuk, trainer and a biochemistry student.
The consistency and length of the program allows learners to develop practical skills in a short time frame. Both Lang and Kostashuk described the appreciation that participants have expressed for the program. For instance, past participants have often expressed more personal comfort in open-concept areas after learning how to use the machines in the gym.
“I was worried that I would injure myself or just look kind of silly because I didn’t know what was going on. There’s a lot of information online but sometimes it can be overwhelming . . . I definitely got a lot more confident in myself and my ability to go to the gym alone,” explained Celina Ruan, a past participant of the Women on Weights program.
The program provides participants with a wealth of information while also giving them an opportunity to make new friends and accountability partners through the classes. Once the six-weeks of Women on Weights comes to an end, trainers will often encounter past participants exercising together at the gym.
“I think there’s definitely been a really big impact on the girls. I still see some of the girls around the gym all the time and they’ll always come up to me and be like “I’ve been going to the gym with so and so from our class, we’ve become gym buddies and we go together all the time and we hold each other accountable,” and that’s such a nice thing to see,” said Kostashuk.
In addition to the Women on Weights program, Kostashuk teaches an introductory lifting program in partnership with the McMaster University biochemistry and biomedical sciences society. Moving forward, Kostashuk hopes to open a similar program for students of all gender identities and programs.
“With clients I’ve always tried to instill the idea in them that no matter how much weight you’re lifting, no matter how new to an exercise you are, no matter how new you are to the gym, there’s always a space for you,” said Kostashuk.
With clients I’ve always tried to instill the idea in them that no matter how much weight you’re lifting, no matter how new to an exercise you are, no matter how new you are to the gym, there’s always a space for you
Meghan Kostashuk, Women on Weights program teacher
McMaster students and David Braley Athletic Centre members can participate in programs for a reduced price. The Women on Weights program will also be offered in the upcoming winter semester. To learn more about the program and other classes offered by The Pulse, visit their website.
