Volleyball on top

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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

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