Marauders Battle to a Win Against Gaels

The Marauders defeated the Gaels on Saturday night in a long five set game.  

On offense, Maxime Gratton (Ottawa, Ont.) and Peter Rugosi (Toronto, Ont.) led the team in kills with 12 each, making it an incredible career high game for Rugosi. Setter Robbie Fujisawa (North York, Ont.) supported the team on offense with 39 assists and 12 digs. Meanwhile, leading on defense was Matthew Rugosi (Etobicoke, Ont.) with 13 digs.  

The game started out evenly matched, as both teams were strong on their offense. The Gaels seemed to gain some confidence and momentum, as the Marauders struggled to match their intensity. A huge kill followed by a solo block from Gratton lit up the home crowd and breathed life into the Marauder team. Aiding the offense, serves from Mateusz Wlodarski (Ottawa, Ont.) continued to unsettle the Gaels as he posted a service ace after having six in the game yesterday. Despite this, Queen’s was strong on their offense, leading the score for most of the set. The Marauders fought to close the gap, with Gratton leading with three kills and Fujisawa making some incredible digs on defense. The Gaels reached the set point first and were able to edge out the Marauders 25-23.  

The Gaels opened the second set with confidence, winning the first three points. Queen’s was strong on their blocks, shutting down McMaster’s powerful offense. Despite this early lead from the Gaels, the Marauders fought to close the gap. On offense, Gratton led with six kills while Wlodarski posted five. The Marauders were able to tie the game back up at the 8th point, keeping themselves in the game. McMaster found their way through some of the Queen’s blocks, as the teams continued to tie until the 28th point. Tension was high and the Marauders were able to come out of the set on top with a score of 30-28. 

The third set started out very similarly to the rest of the game, with the teams battling back and forth. Queen’s left very few gaps in the court, having an impressive defensive game. The Marauders were able to find their first significant lead of the game with a score of 19-11 after scoring eight consecutive points. Leading the McMaster offense was Peter Rugosi and Brendan Mills (London, Ont.), each with three kills. The Marauders were able to close out the set with the largest point differential by far, 25-19. 

Queen’s brought back their huge blocks in the fourth set, challenging the Marauder offense at the net. Peter Rugosi continued to have an incredible performance, leading the set with four kills, while Matthew Rugosi led in digs with three. Mid set both sides struggled with their service errors, but despite this, Queen’s was able to gain some momentum. The Gaels reached the set point first, but McMaster did their best to hold on. Although they were able to score three consecutive points to challenge the Gaels set point, the Marauders couldn’t close the gap and fell 25-22. 

In the final set of the match, McMaster came out fighting, opening the set with four consecutive points. The team was looking more dominant on their home court, displaying versatility with four McMaster players getting two kills each. The home crowd was right there alongside the team as the pressure built in the Burridge. The Marauders were able to finish the game with a strong performance, with a score of 15-10.  

Up Next 

The Marauders finish off their games before the winter break and will look forward to playing an exhibition series against Long Beach State on January 5th and 7th. They will return to their regular season on January 13th as they match up against the Badgers.