The no. 10 Brock men’s volleyball team will compete for an Ontario University Athletics (OUA) bronze medal, and a shot at nationals.
The Badgers lost 3-0 (20-25, 21-25, 20-25) to the No. 2 McMaster Marauders in Hamilton in the OUA quarter-finals on Wednesday, March 16.
Despite the loss, Brock still has an opportunity to make it to the U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship in Manitoba.
The Badgers will play No. 5 Queen’s in Kingston on Saturday, March 19. Game time to be announced. The OUA has three berths at the national championships, so the winner of the bronze-medal game will earn a spot at nationals.
Although the Badgers lost all three sets on Wednesday, they were able to keep it close, scoring at least 20 points in each set.
The Marauders put up a strong match by leading in almost all team stat categories, including points (37-56), kills (28-45), aces (2-5), assists (26-42), and digs (33-43), but the Badgers were able to lead the match in blocks (7-6).
Leading the way offensively for the Badgers was OUA West MVP Logan House, who scored 10 kills.
For McMaster, Sam Copper recorded a match-high 12 kills.
Other contributors for the Badgers include Saulius Lianga and Jacob Ferland with six and three kills, respectively. Defensively, Ferland led the Badgers with three blocks. Grant Reddon also tallied two blocks and 18 assists.
Ethan Kalef put up six assists and a team-high 10 digs.