Preview: #2 Men’s Volleyball Hosts Waterloo Saturday in Final Match Before Break

HAMILTON, Ont. – The Marauders men’s volleyball team will host the Waterloo Warriors this Saturday in the final match before the OUA’s mid-season exam break. McMaster (4-0) has climbed to #2 in the U SPORTS National Top 10 rankings following their two-game sweep of the Brock Badgers last weekend.

Defensively, Mac appears to be firing on all cylinders having only dropped three of 15 sets played. A strong net-front presence has produced the league’s highest block total at 43.5 through the team’s first four matches.

Waterloo (2-3) comes to Burridge Gymnasium following a home and home split with the Western Mustangs, and currently sit second in the OUA West division despite a 2-3 record, behind first place McMaster.

Saturday will mark the first of three matches between the two teams this season, with two more contests coming in the month of February.

Details

Date: Saturday, November 27th
Time: 3:00 pm
Venue: Burridge Gym, McMaster University

#2 McMaster

Record: 4-0 | Streak: W4

Standings: 1st OUA West Division

Waterloo

Record: 2-3 | Streak: L1

Standings: 2nd OUA West Division

History

Dating back to the 2010-11 season, McMaster has had a 21-2 stranglehold on the series with Waterloo and has taken the last 15 meetings. In that period, the Warriors have yet to win inside Burridge. The since graduated tandem of Craig Ireland and Nathan Delgudice led the charge when Mac took both matches in the 2019-20 season by 3-0 margins.

Players to Watch

McMaster

Wojtek Kraj: Getting it done on both sides of the net, Kraj leads the OUA in blocks with 21, and ranks in the top-10 in hitting percentage (.366). The 6’10 powerhouse remains a threat at all times.

Sam Cooper: The sophomore Hamilton native is among the league leaders in kills (3.47/s), aces (.80/s) and total points (2nd). His dominant serving produced six aces last Saturday against Brock.

Waterloo

Liam MacArthur: A clear front-runner in conference kills (4.06/s), MacArthur is considered the focal point of a young Warrior offense in his freshman season.

Siraj Khanna: At the net it was a block party for Waterloo last weekend, especially from Khanna who led all players with 11 of the team’s 30 blocks in a 3-1 win against the Mustangs.