The Brock Badgers men’s volleyball team were ranked for the first time this season on Tuesday, Jan. 30 and immediately got the opportunity to play another nationally ranked opponent in the No. 3 McMaster Marauders.
Despite a great effort in the third and fourth sets, the Badgers fell short, losing in four (20-25, 17-25, 25-19, 24-26) on Friday, Feb. 2 in Hamilton.
Jacob Ferland, a third-year middle, lead the team with 11.5 points off five kills, three service aces and 3.5 blocks. KJ Robinson had the most kills for Brock with eight, while Devin Cooney patrolled the defence with a game-high 10 digs.
The hosts got out to a 7-2 lead to force Brock’s first timeout. The Badgers inched their way back into the set, with Jacob Ferland getting the teams tied at eight with a service ace. From there, the Marauders controlled the pace of play with strong attacking, causing a second Badgers’ timeout up 21-15. McMaster held on for the 25-20 first-set win that was plagued with service errors, with Brock giving up nine and the hosts delivering four of their own.
In the second set, the Marauders created a carbon copy of the first, going up 7-2 early to cause a Badgers’ timeout. After the Badgers tried to crawl back, back-to-back aces from the Marauders led to a 15-10 advantage and a second timeout. More tough serving from the hosts led to a 25-15 victory in the second.
After battling point for point early in the third, the Badgers got out to a 11-8 lead after an ace from Ferland and a kill from Lianga, leading to the Marauder’s first timeout of the match. Another big kill from Lianga gave Brock an eight-point advantage at 21-13 and a second timeout from McMaster was called. Immediately, the Marauders rattled off four straight, but the Badgers held strong, winning the set 25-19.
The two teams traded blows early in the fourth before the Marauders started to separate for a four-point lead at 10-6. When it seemed like the Marauders might run away with the set because of a six-point lead, the Badgers took advantage of three straight hitting errors from the hosts to reduce the advantage to 19-16. The timeout did not stop the momentum from Brock, as they scored five straight to take a 21-19 advantage off the strong serving of Lianga. McMaster tied the score at 23-23 and rattled off two straight in some bonus volleyball to win it 26-24.
Up next, the Badgers (13-4) will play in a rematch with the No. 3 McMaster Marauders (14-4) in Hamilton at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3. You can watch the action on OUA.tv.