McMaster men’s volleyball books ticket to OUA Championship; will host Forsyth Cup on Friday

HAMILTON – Ranked No. 1 in the OUA, the McMaster Marauders men’s volleyball team will play in the OUA Championship on home court. With a 3-0 sweep of the Guelph Gryphons on Friday night in Burridge Gymnasium, the maroon and grey booked a ticket to the Forsyth Cup Championship and punched their ticket to the U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship.
 
Brendan Mills was impressive in the victory, racking up 19 points on 15 kills, five blocks and two digs. Maxime Gratton had 12 kills of his own and added a service ace along with six digs. Robbie Fujisawa amassed 35 assists, three kills for a perfect 1.000 percentage and recorded one service ace. Liberos Ben Kerkhoff and Matthew Rugosi combined for eight digs in the three set match.
 
Guelph was led by Jonathan Pickett with 16 kills for 17 points.
 
The Marauders and Gryphons exchanged points to open the first set before the hosts went on a 6-2 run to make the score 14-9, forcing a Guelph timeout. The two squads went toe-to-toe after that, but McMaster never relinquished the lead, taking the set 25-19.
 
McMaster came out firing in Set 2, taking an early 5-0 lead for an early Guelph timeout. The visitors clawed their way within four at 12-8 but the Marauders rolled off three in a row to extend the lead to seven. The Gryohons pushed back, narrowing the advantage to one, forcing a McMaster timeout. The Marauders scored four of the final six points to take the second set 25.22.
 
Guelph came out with momentum in the final set, securing the first point of Set 3. The Marauders and Gryohons exchanged points throughout but the 1-0 score was the only time the visitors would lead throughout the match. McMaster scored three in a row to set up match point. Brady Paterson secured the sweep for the hosts with a kill to make the final set score 25-20.
 
NEXT UP
McMaster will face the No. 2 ranked Queen’s Gaels in the Forsyth Cup on Friday March 1. Tickets are now available at marauders.ca/tickets.