KINGSTON, Ont. – The Marauders, after being swept 3-0 by the Gaels last night, came fighting for redemption and found it in a three-set sweep on Saturday night.
Leading McMaster in kills was Maxime Gratton, with 10 in the game, plus two service aces. Brendan Mills was close behind with nine kills, two service aces, and one solo block. Setter Robbie Fujisawa was consistent, making 24 assists and one block assist.
The first set started out similarly to last night’s game, with each team matching each other until the seventh point. The Marauders were able to find a lead mid-set, thanks to a five-point run which included kills from Mills, Jared Kuiken, and an ace from Gratton. Liberos Ben Kerkhoff and Matthew Rugosi were holding down the defense for McMaster, closing any holes in the McMaster court. Queen’s called the first timeout of the game, trying to dig themselves out of McMaster’s 18-12 lead. The home team couldn’t pull it together, and meanwhile, Aidan Palanca subbed in for a serve and found the Marauders the point to win the set with his first ace of the season, closing the set 25-14.
The second set started eerily similar to the first, with the teams tying up to the seventh point. Tyler Pavelic made a service ace to earn McMaster a small 8-7 lead, followed by two Gratton kills. The Marauders started to distance themselves slowly on the scoreboard, as their defense was strong and forced attack errors from Queen’s. At a 15-10 McMaster lead, Queen’s took their first timeout. The set continued with a three- or four-point Marauder lead, until Queen’s managed to close in at the last moment. The set could’ve gone either way, and the Marauders showed grit to fight it out and win the set 25-23.
The Marauders came out firing in the third set, earning the first five points of the set before Queen’s called a timeout, knowing they needed to stay alive to extend the game. Five points in, Gratton had already made three kills while Mills made a service ace. McMaster held a seven-point lead early on, and first year Brady Paterson helped to push it to eight. The Marauders were relentless on their offense, finding something that tonight that they didn’t have yesterday. Late in the set, both teams struggled with service errors, but McMaster had already closed in on set-point and were able to win 25-19.
Up Next
The Marauders will head back to Hamilton next weekend to face off against the Brock Badgers for the first time this season. They improve their record to 12-4 as they close this Kingston weekend with one win and one loss, showing that they are a resilient team in this league.
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