Buckeyes earn win in pre-season contest with Marauders

In the eighth contest between the two squads in the past nine years, it was the Americans who took the game 3-1 (20-25, 24-26, 28-26, 17-25) on Saturday night.

The opening set saw both teams get their footing and look for control. McMaster went up 2-0 to open the first set but Ohio State capitalized on Marauder service errors to keep it close. After fighting back, the Marauders got within two at 22-20 but the Buckeyes scored the final three points of the set to go up 1-0.

McMaster bounced back in the second set, leading for the majority of the game. The Marauders held a 22-19 advantage late in the set thanks to the best kill percentage of the day (.429)  but were unable to close out with Ohio State claiming the second set 26-24.

The Marauders battled in the third set as they looked to extend the contest. The maroon and grey were dominant, leading by as much as four points on three different occasions throughout the third. Similar to the previous sets, the Buckeyes battled back with the Marauders needing extra points to get the win they needed. With a 28-26 score, the Marauders were back in it, down two sets to one.

Unfortunately, the Buckeyes would control the fourth set, jumping out to a 14-5 lead. McMaster got within seven but the lead was too much. The Buckeyes picked up the fourth set win and claimed the match 3-1.

Jacob Pasteur and Samuel Clark led Ohio State with 15 and 14 kills respectively and combined for three aces. For the Marauders, Wojciech Kraj (Gliwice, Poland) controlled the net with eight kills and a game high .583 attack percentage. He also led all McMaster players with 3.0 blocks. Maxime Gratton (Ottawa, Ont.) led all players on either side of the court with three aces.

Next Up 

The Marauders will now face the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday October 22nd in pre-season action before returning to Burridge Gym on Friday October 28th for the second part of the home-and-home with the Varsity Blues. This week’s game is set for 1pm while the game next week in Hamilton will go at 7pm.

For the latest news and updates on the McMaster Marauders, follow @mcmastersports on social media or visit www.marauders.ca.