Marauders Fall Short in Tough Four Set Match against Lancers

The Marauders fell on Saturday night to the Lancers in Windsor after a hard fought four set game.  McMaster comes out of their weekend on the road with a win and a loss, bringing their record to 3-2.

Leading McMaster’s offense was Maxime Gratton with 17 kills and two service aces, while Brendan Mills contributed 13 kills. First year Brady Paterson made two service aces, while Robbie Fujisawa made 37 assists. Libero Matthew Rugosi led the defense with 10 digs, while Fujisawa made nine.  

After a close contest last night, the Lancers came out fueled for redemption, finding a quick six-point lead at 7-1. Windsor held onto a comfortable lead, despite outside hitter Gratton leading the Marauders on offense early, with five kills and one service ace. The Marauders began to find their groove, with a huge kill from Mills forcing a Windsor timeout in attempt to slow the away team’s momentum. McMaster continued to be strong on their blocks, using their height at the net to their advantage. They were able to close in on the Windsor lead, coming within two points. Despite this, the Lancers reached set point first and were able to finish the set on top at 25-21.  

The Lancers took the early lead in the second set, as the Marauders struggled to keep up. Four consecutive points from the home team forced McMaster to take a timeout early in the set while down 10-4. It was clear that the Lancers noticed Mills’ strong offensive game last night, and they made some adjustments in an attempt to shut out Mills on the right side. An ace from Gratton and some errors from the Lancers forced a home team timeout, as the Marauders started to close in on the scoreboard. Rugosi made a great pancake dig to help McMaster find another point, exciting the away bench. Regardless, the second set looked similar to the first, with the Lancers finding set point first and finishing on top, 25-19. 

Trailing 2-0 in the game going into the third, the Marauders were determined to extend the game to more sets. Paterson made an ace early on, fueling the Marauders offense. Pavelic had some nicely placed kills, while Gratton continued to drive the ball down the line, both finding the holes in the Lancer defense. With McMaster up by five, the Lancers called a timeout, but the Marauders held strong. Gratton made a kill through a triple block, forcing Windsor to use their second timeout. McMaster was able to reach the 20th point first, with a comfortable 20-11 lead. The Marauders were able to reach set point for the first time in the game and finished with a confident 25-17 win. 

The teams kept the score tight in the fourth set, and it wasn’t until the Lancers hit double digits that they started to break away with a small lead. The Marauders attempted to quiet the Lancers offense but struggled to defend against their kills. Windsor began to tear away, finding a six-point lead at 17-11 and forcing McMaster’s second timeout. Mills and Gratton were able to keep the Marauders on the scoreboard, but a huge block from Windsor brought them to set point first. Despite staying alive for two more points, the Marauders ultimately lost 25-20 in the final set of the match.  

Up Next 

The Marauders will now look forward to facing off against the TMU Bold next Saturday afternoon at home.