Women score seat in OUA volleyball playoffs

The McMaster Women’s volleyball team had a huge weekend, winning both their final regular season games and securing a spot in the playoffs to finish off their season.

The team’s first win came against the Brock Badgers who hosted the Marauders on Feb. 7 in St. Catharines, Ont.

Rookie player Sophie Bukovec was busy on Friday’s game with a standout performance, converting 17 of 50 hitting attempts and adding six blocks for a game high 23 points.

Taylor Brisebois and Maicee Sorenson were also among some of the Marauders to reach double-digit points in the win.

Brock appeared to seize momentum numerous times in the match but would come back to win the fourth set, tying the match and adding a deciding fifth set into the mix. The Marauders were able to take control early in the fifth set leading the Badgers 7-4 as the team’s approached the changeover.

The Marauders would build momentum and not give up another point, reaching the end of the match with a 15-4 victory over the hosting Brock squad.

McMaster would then return home to Burridge Gym on Feb. 8 and get set to host the visiting Ottawa Gee-Gees for a 6 p.m. start time.

It was Seniors night, a night which honored the senior players who will be graduating after the completion of the 2013-14 season. The Marauders would put up a commendable fight to blow the Gee-Gees out of the water and take the game 3-2.

After an emotional presentation for McMaster’s four graduating seniors, the Gee-Gees took off flying, determined to put a damper on the evening’s festivities.

The Gee-Gees strong start put them up 16-5 early in the match. After the technical timeout, the Gee-Gees lead would prove to great to catch up to, allowing Ottawa to take the first set and reach a 1-0 lead over the hosting Marauders.

With the Gee-Gees fighting for a win in order to secure a home playoff game in the first round of next week’s OUA playoffs, Ottawa was on a mission and was proving to be a difficult opponent for the Marauders.

The second set showed Ottawa once again take an early lead over the Marauders with a commanding 19-10 lead. Mac would eventually close the gap to only seven points but would not get any closer, leaving Ottawa the opportunity to close out the second set with a 25-17 win, bringing their lead to 2-0 over the Marauders.

With the risk of a 3-set sweep on home court in the Marauders midst, they knew they had to come out in full force in order to win an important third set. A fired up group of Marauders stormed the Gee-Gees grabbing an early 16-7 lead at the technical timeout. The Marauders would eventually power through to take the set 25-9 providing the spark the team needed in order to win this game.

With their momentum continuing to grow the Marauders would shake off a trailing fourth set score to grab a lead once again at 16-11. The set would reach it’s conclusion with the Marauders sitting on top, taking the set 25-21 and brining the game to a tie at 2 a piece.

For the second straight night in a row the Marauders would go into a crucial fifth set which would eventually decide the outcome of the match. The Marauders went pedal to metal and showed no signs of wavering throughout the set. Taking an early 8-4 lead the Marauders would continue their push and would eventually take the set and the game with a 15-7 victory and a 3-2 over the Gee-Gees.

Prior to the match, fifth year seniors Amanda Weldon and Kayla Ng as well as fourth year seniors Camilla Thome-Tjomsland and Kierstyn Bakker were presented with tokens of appreciation for the commitment and contributions to the Marauder volleyball program.

The ladies in maroon finish the season with a 13-6 record which gives them a second place finish overall heading into the OUA playoffs starting next week. The Marauders will host the Windsor Lancers in the division semi-final contest to be held this weekend on Feb. 17 in Burridge Gym.