Marauders Sweep TMU in Three Sets on the Road

The Marauders showed their strength and versatility on Friday night as they swept the TMU Bold in three sets in Toronto. 

The team had a very impressive collective performance, looking strong on both their powerful offense and their towering defensive blocks. 6’5″ outside hitter Sam Cooper (Hamilton, Ont.) led the team with eight kills and three service aces, while teammate Maxime Gratton (Ottawa, Ont.) had seven kills and two service aces. Setter Robbie Fujisawa (North York, Ont.) was consistent in supporting the offense with 25 assists and led the team with seven digs. 

The first set started out close, with the Marauders making some errors and giving up free points to TMU. The teams had strong rallies back and forth, but it wasn’t long before the Marauders started to distance themselves with the lead. Known for their power, McMaster did not hold back, with six kills coming from Cooper. Gratton had two incredibly powerful service aces late in the set that TMU couldn’t respond to. The Marauders looked dominant and reflected that in the score as they won the first set 25-15. 

The Marauders continued to put pressure on TMU at the start of the second set, but the Bold fought to keep the score close. McMaster was consistent on their offense, with kills coming from five different players, which was led by Gratton with five kills. They distanced themselves from the Bold quickly on the scoreboard and had yet another dominant set. The Marauders looked powerful as they comfortably won the set 25-14. 

In the third set, the Bold showed their resilience, getting their first service ace of the game and tying the score up to 10-10. TMU forced McMaster into using their first timeout of the game as the Bold capitalized on errors from the Marauders. Thomas Williams (Oakville, Ont.) had a great third set, making his presence known with four kills in the set. Collectively, the team made four service aces and had kills from five different offensive players. Despite this, the Marauders struggled to regain momentum as TMU tied up the game at 19-19 after two consecutive service aces, forcing a second McMaster timeout. The teams continued to exchange each other point for point as tension was high in the crowd. TMU was able to tie up the game again at 22-22, but the Marauders were able to make a final push to win the set 25-23. 

Up Next 

The Marauders will now face the Brock Badgers in St. Catherines at 3pm on Sunday as they continue on the road for the weekend. They improve their win streak to five and hope to continue with this momentum through the season.