The Marauders’ many tests over reading week

c/o Valerie Wutti

Reading week is a time for catching up. Whether studying or on Netflix, hopefully you spent your reading week well—the Marauders sure did. Some of the highlights include several U Sports championships, dominant regular season performances and playoff berths being secured over reading week. Here is what you missed:

Men’s Volleyball

The men’s volleyball team has been on a tear as of late, notching their 13th straight win as they progress to 15-1 on the season. The Western University Mustangs stood no chance on Feb. 21 as they were swept in straight sets. The only time the Mustangs had a glimpse of a win was in the second set, where they lost by only two points. Other than that the Marauders won every other set by at least six points.

Some of the top performers were box score regulars Craig Ireland, Nathan Delguidice and Matt Passalent. Ireland lead the team with 15 kills, an ace and a block to end of the day with the W. The Marauders are currently sitting at a staggering .938 winning percentage on the season so far. 

They took on the Windsor Lancers on Feb. 22 and came off with additional win before heading to the Forsyth Cup, the OUA quarter finals. The team has built up an impressive 14 game winning momentum that will hopefully lead to an ace of a performance during the quickly approaching playoffs.

Basketball

The basketball championship run has started. Both the men’s and women’s teams have entered the first round of the playoffs. 

The men’s team took over Burridge as the Brock University Badgers desperately tried to hold onto their playoff hopes. However, the Marauders had an immense defensive stand in the second quarter, holding Brock to only nine points, helping McMaster widen a gap that the Badgers could not fill. The Marauders are now on their way to our national capital to take on the Carleton Ravens in the next round of the playoffs.

The women’s team also clinched a quarterfinal appearance as they toppled the University of Guelph Gryphons in the first round of the OUA playoffs. Mac was a favourite coming into the season, as they are coming off a national championship win. With the last regular season win against an incredibly tough Ottawa University Gee-Gee’s team, the Marauders entered the post-season with strong momentum to take over the first round against the Gryphons. The grey and maroon headed to London to take on the University of Western Mustangs in the next round.

Unfortunately both the Marauders and the Mustangs lost in the OUA quarterfinals, putting an unfortunate end to an otherwise impressive showing by both squads.

[pjc_slideshow slide_type="what-you-missed-in-sports"]

U Sports Championships

The men’s and women’s wrestling squads were heading into the U Sports national championships hot after having completed an impressive showing at the OUA championships. 

Ben Zahra was the man to watch going into the tournament as he was McMaster’s most competitive force at OUA Championships, winning the gold medal and accolade of the year’s best wrestler. As he entered into the total match, Marauders were on the edge of their seats as the match was tight all the way through. 

Unfortunately, the decision was a close loss to Concordia’s Guseyn Ruslanzada with 5-4 as the final judge decision. This close match was not uncommon for Zahra, as he has regularly taken on the nation’s top talents and fought until the bitter end. His Silver medal at nationals is still an immense accomplishment.

There were another three medals won on the weekend, with Connor Quinton and Ameen Agdhamirian also coming away with silvers in their respective weight classes. The last medalist on the day was second-year wrestler Francesco Fortino who grabbed a bronze medal in the 57kg weight class.

Fortino looks to be the bright future of the program as he absolutely dominated his opponent with a 10-0 victory over Harris Valdes of the Alberta Golden Bears. Being only in his second year and delivering a powerful performance at nationals bodes very well for his future in the grey and maroon.

[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]