The No. 9 nationally ranked Windsor Lancer men’s volleyball team managed to split their home opener weekend series against the No. 5 McMaster Marauders at the Toldo Lancer Centre.
On Friday night McMaster took the hard-fought rematch of the 2023 Forsyth Cup OUA championship final which took place back in March as the defending OUA gold medalists and champions took the Friday match 3-1 (22-25, 21-25, 28-26, 23-25) over the hometown blue and gold who are of course the reigning league silver medalists.
Meanwhile on Saturday night, the Lancers managed to defeat the Marauders who were also the U SPORTS national bronze medalists of 2023 in similar fashion from the night before with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-19, 17-25, and 25-20) reverse victory over the visitors from Hamilton.
FRIDAY STATS Chase Bridges led the way offensively for the Lancers on Friday boasting a 20-kill performance in the loss to the Marauders.
Markus Law-Heese had an impressive 46 assists and 8 digs defensively leading the way in addition to providing his squad with steady setting throughout despite the loss.
Brendan Mills of McMaster was the match’s leader and arguable player of the game with his 23-kill performance that stole the show along with tallying up 3 service aces in the Marauder win. The Marauders setter Robbie Fujisawa also had a solid outing producing 47 assists and 16 digs defensively in the win over Windsor.
HOW IT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY
The Lancers found themselves ahead early in the first set and continued to lead throughout the opening set. The blue and gold in fact reached double digits and the 20-point mark first keeping the Marauders back a regular six or seven-point spread during.
However, the Marauders upped their play late in the first set and found a way to battle back from a sluggish start and in fact stun Windsor with a tied 22-22 game which in turn quickly became a 25-22 first set comeback win for the Marauders to go up 1-0 in the match.
The second set saw consistency from both teams throughout as each team traded points and scoring plays with magnificent rallies ensued. However, the visiting Marauders found a way to win down the stretch once again and take the second set 25-21 and lead the match 2-1.
The third set began with another close score as both teams traded points once more. The Lancers would maintain control of the lead throughout the set but both teams met up on an even playing field at 17-17 which then saw a dramatic see-saw finish to the third which was extended past 25 points once it reached a 24-24 stalemate.
The blue and gold emerged victorious after breaking the 26-26 deadlock and Bridges’ set-winning kill play sent the Lancers to a fourth set.
In the fourth set, Windsor found themselves back in familiar territory staying closely contested with McMaster on the scoreboard with both sides exchanging equal scoring plays and errors alike. Windsor found themselves ahead at 21-18 but McMaster was gifted three points off three consistent Lancer errors which restored fortune for them to avoid playing another extra set that would have been a fifth and final deciding set.
That set was unnecessary in this outing though as after the Lancers called a timeout late in the fourth, the Marauders turned up the heat and were able to not the Lancers tie up the game again and were able to close out narrowly with a 25-23 fourth set victory and claim a 3-1 win in Windsor.
SATURDAY STATS Markus Law-Heese dished out 38 assists and dug up 8 digs off McMaster’s consistent strong attacks to help lead his team to victory.
Darian Koskie had 12 kills while Chase Bridges had 9 of his own. Meanwhile Anthony Ivanovski provided a strong stable presence up the middle generating 8 kills of his own and 5 blocks on the night to shut down the Marauders and avoid a second straight loss to the Marauders on the weekend in locking up a 3-1 win with solid play throughout.
McMaster’s Max Gratton had an amazing 17 kill-performance which led the game offensively despite the loss to the Lancers.
HOW IT HAPPENED ON SATURDAY
The Lancers came out of the gate flying less than 24 hours after their Friday night four-set defeat. The blue and gold jumped out to a 7-1 lead to ignite the passion on and off the floor inside the TLC. McMaster called an early timeout to respond and afterwards attempted to come back to counter the Lancers commanding play.
The Lancers did not let up as they ensured that they would not take their foot off the gas following the lesson learned from the night before of letting up too soon and allowing momentum to swing back onto the Marauders side of the court and giving them life to have a shot of coming back. McMaster did remain in the hunt with a claw back that almost resulted in a similar situation as the night before as when the score hit a two-point spread the Lancers hunkered down and closed out the set with a 25-21 win to go up 1-0 in the match.
The Lancers emulated their first set energy in the second set jumping out to a sizeable lead which made it tough for McMaster to again try and battle back. The Marauders tried their best to come within range of the Lancer lead but in the end, Windsor was able to hold onto the reins with full control and win 25-19 and go up 2-0 in the match.
With the blue and gold eyeing a win over McMaster for the first time since February 2020 the TLC atmosphere elevated. The Marauders also elevated their play in the third set as they found themselves in control early in the third which allowed them to keep firm control over the Lancers throughout the set. With Windsor struggling to keep up to McMaster’s lead they would drop the third set 25-17 to the Marauders but still hold a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Determined, the blue and gold squad regrouped embracing the challenge of wanting to take down the Marauders in front of the Lancer Family without needing a fifth set. The Lancers buckled down and focused on what was another back-and-forth battle of momentum throughout the fourth. The Lancers managed to zero in not blowing any leads and keeping up the same energy throughout their plays and extended rallies.
In the end, Windsor did accomplish the revenge victory they were eyeing from the night before in similar dramatic fashion after Ivanovski’s kill sealed the deal late in the fourth to claim the fourth set 25-20 and win the match 25-20 for a spectacular upset victory over the Marauders to split the weekend at one apiece and improve their season record to 3-1 on the campaign.
UP NEXT
The Lancers will now prepare to take to the 401 east next weekend when they will travel up to Kingston to take on the RMC Paladins at the Royal Military College of Canada on Friday November 24th at 7:00pm and again on Saturday November 25th at 2:00pm.
Be sure to follow the official Windsor Lancers accounts on all social media platforms including X (formerly Twitter) for live updates of all Lancer athletics action all season long.
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