GUELPH, Ont. – The Marauders defeated the Gryphons comfortably in three-sets on Friday night in Guelph. McMaster hands Guelph their first loss of the season, ending their seven game win streak.
Leading McMaster’s offense tonight was Brendan Mills, who has consistently been a top contributor to the Marauders’ offense so far this season. The outside hitter made fourteen kills, two solo blocks, and two block assists. Alongside his teammate was fourth year Maxime Gratton with ten kills and nine digs. Meanwhile, setter Robbie Fujisawa made 31 assists, one solo block, and seven digs.
The Marauders were strong on their offense at the start of the first set but struggled with a few service errors, giving Guelph some easy points. McMaster found a small lead, with the help of kills from Mills. Despite this, Guelph was able to find the holes in McMaster’s defense to tie the score at the ninth point. The Marauders were quick to dampen the Gryphon’s momentum, as they went on a point streak to reach set point first. Ultimately, McMaster closed the set comfortably 25-18.
After a strong first set, Mills opened up set two for the Marauders with a huge kill. The Gryphons were determined to keep the game close, matching them point for point. Haben Yohannes came up with a huge solo block, lighting up the away bench and bringing the score to 7-4. After some errors by McMaster, Guelph closed the gap on the scoreboard again, tying it up at 16-16. Tyler Pavelic and Mills made back-to-back block assists, shutting down Guelph’s offense. Three consecutive McMaster points forced a Guelph timeout, but this didn’t stop the Marauders from scoring two more points coming off the break. 5’11” setter Fujisawa made a huge solo block late in the set, bringing McMaster to 23-19. An assist from Fujisawa to Yohannes finished the second set 25-22 for the Marauders.
Going into the third set, the Marauders were sitting on a comfortable two-set lead, while the Gryphons were fighting to stay alive. The teams kept the score close, continuing to tie early on. A great set by Fujisawa led Gratton to a huge kill which tied the teams at 7-7. The teams were in a pattern, with Guelph having a small offensive edge with one-point leads before McMaster would tie it back up. The home team began to find a small lead that they could hold onto, but the Marauders tied the score again at the 18th point. The teams fought closely, exchanging kills and errors, up to the 22nd point. The Marauders were able to find a lead when it mattered, at 24-22. Guelph managed to stay alive to see their 23-point but weren’t able to finish as McMaster won the last point on a Gryphons service error, finishing the set 25-23.
Up Next
The Marauders improve their record to 5-2 and will rematch against the Guelph Gryphons tomorrow afternoon in Guelph.