Stephen Maar, McMaster, Volleyball

In his fourth and final season, McMaster Marauders outside hitter Stephen Maar was a force to be reckoned with and caps off an outstanding career as OUA Male Athlete of the Year.

Despite an injury plagued winter term, the fourth-year history and political science major led the conference in several statistical categories this season, including: kills per set (4.29), hitting percentage (.395) and points per set (5.0).

The Aurora, Ont. native was named an OUA first-team all-star for the first time in his career and became the third consecutive Marauder to be named OUA men’s volleyball MVP.

Led by Maar, the Marauders finished the regular season with an 18-2 record and were ranked the No. 1 team in the country for 13 weeks. 

In a January exhibition series against the No. 1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, Maar was the leading scorer with 19.5 and 18.5 points, respectively, in a pair of McMaster victories.

Maar and the Marauders established new team records in points (223.5) and attacks (349) on their way to claiming their fourth consecutive Forsyth Memorial Trophy as OUA champions.

Despite falling in the gold medal match at the CIS championship earlier this year, the 6-foot-7 outside hitter was named to the tournament all-star team and a first-team all-Canadian after finishing second in the country in hitting percentage (.395).

Maar becomes the first Marauders student-athlete to win the award since Kyle Quinlan won the honours in back-to-back seasons in 2011-12 and 2012-13.