Marauders Crush Bold in Three Sets at Home

HAMILTON, Ont. – The Marauders swept the Bold in three sets on Friday night in Burridge. The last time the teams met in November, McMaster swept in three sets (25-12, 25-17, 25-21). Tonight’s scores were very similar, showing their consistency as each set score was one point off their previous encounter with the Bold (25-13, 25-18, 25-22).  

Leading McMaster’s offense was Maxime Gratton with 13 kills and three service aces. Brendan Mills put up five service aces and eight kills, while Robbie Fujisawa made 28 assists and two impressive kills. The team’s defense was spread evenly between players, with Fujisawa, Mills, and libero Matthew Rugosi each making six.  

Early in the first set, a one-handed set from Fujisawa to Jared Kuiken lit up the home crowd and set the tone for the game. Mills came flying in with two back-to-back service aces, making the score 5-1 for McMaster. Gratton seemed to have perfected the kill coming from the back row, doing it twice and stunning the crowd. Mills came through with another service ace, and setter Fujisawa made an exciting kill. Gratton and Fujisawa each picked up another ace late in the set, and the Marauders took the set 25-13, ending on a TMU service error.  

First year Brady Paterson opened the second set with a swift service ace. The Marauders were feeling confident after their dominant first set, but started making more errors, allowing the Bold to capitalize. Despite this, a kill from Mills followed by a kill from fourth year Evan Bremer lit up the home bench. Mills made his fifth service ace of the game, stumping TMU’s defense. The Marauders were pulling out all the stops, with outside hitter Gratton setting Thomas Williams for a kill, and setter Fujisawa making another kill. They came back to find a comfortable lead and won the set 25-18.  

Early in the third set, TMU seemed to be keeping the score very close for the first time in the game. The teams tied up to the ninth point, with the Bold seeming to keep the upper edge by one point. The Marauders were determined to win the game in three sets, finding a lead with the help of kills from Gratton and Paterson. TMU fought to close the gap and were successful in overtaking the score again late in the set at 20-19. Frustration built in the home team, with Mills earning them a yellow card late in the set, but they still managed to retake the lead. Williams made a smart return over the net to earn McMaster their 23rd point, at 23-21. A double block from Bremer and Mills finished off the set 25-22 for McMaster, sweeping TMU once again.  

Up Next 

The Marauders will look forward to facing off against the Toronto Varsity Blues tomorrow night at home. They improve their record to 10-3 and hope to push their win streak to three tomorrow night.