Forsyth Cup: Marauders overcome slow start to advance to sixth straight OUA final
HAMILTON, Ont. - Overcoming a tentative start in a packed Burridge Gym, the Marauders steadied themselves and found their form to dispatch the Windsor Lancers in four sets Friday and advance to their sixth consecutive OUA title match at home.
Set scores were 18-25, 25-23, 25-16 and 25-15 in favour of the OUA’s top-seeded Marauders, who improved on an anemic .130 hitting average in the first set to finish .278 as a team through four.
With their win, McMaster set up an OUA final clash with the Queen’s Gaels, who upset the Ryerson Rams in five absorbing sets in the night’s earlier semi final. That title match will get underway at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, following the conclusion of the 5:30 p.m. bronze medal match between Ryerson and Windsor.
Mac’s advance to the final lends importance to the bronze medal match, as the winner will earn the OUA’s final berth into the U SPORTS Championship tournament.
Friday marked a playoff breakout for McMaster’s third-year opposite Matt Passalent, who had 15 kills and no errors on 29 hitting attempts (.517), while adding an ace and a block and a half for 17.5 points.
Newly-crowned OUA West Player of the Year Andrew Richards was Mac’s leading scorer on the night, with 17 kills and 19.5 points.
Checking into the match in the second set, outside hitter Craig Ireland had an immediate influence for McMaster, and was an efficient .385 in notching six kills versus just one error en route to being named the Marauders Player of the Match.
After red-hot starts to Friday’s contest, the Windsor pair of Pierce Johnson and Brad Gyemi cooled down the stretch and finished with a combined 21 kills and 17 errors. Both were effective from the service line, as Johnson had four aces to finish with a team-high 15 points, while Gyemi scored three aces and 13 points.
GAME FLOW
A tight opening set turned in favour of the Lancers when Richards was killed on a contentious error to level things at 10, and Windsor pounced to grab momentum.
Reeling off six of the next nine points, the Lancers held a three-point lead at the technical timeout, and only gathered steam from there, forcing the Marauders into a timeout at 19-14 after an ace from Johnson. After a Marauders service error brought up set points, John Moate knocked down an ace of his own to draw first blood on the overall score board.
Windsor continued to carry the momentum, and held a four-point lead at the technical timeout in the second, until a rash of errors saw their advantage evaporate. Heavy, consecutive swings from Passalent and Ireland powered the Marauders into an 18-17 lead, and a subsequent service run from Passalent helped Mac build on that momentum.
He was chased from the line after an error for 23-19, but the damage was done, and despite a wobble in the final points, McMaster ultimately closed out the set and leveled the match after a service error from Windsor’s Marc Pineault.
A star turn from Ireland midway through the third helped Mac build another healthy lead, as he followed a massive kill with an ace and the Lancers obliged with a net violation on the following point to give the Marauders a 12-7 advantage and send the visitors to a timeout.
Late in the third, it was Richards’ turn to shine, with a well-struck pipe ball and a pair of crafty tips helping McMaster pull away en route to the nine-point margin in an increasingly comfortable set.
Showing signs of fatigue early in the fourth, the Lancers tossed in a series of errors to fall behind 14-8, and McMaster reacted strongly to take advantage. After Passalent dealt appropriately with the overpass to bring up the technical timeout, an emotional double stuff from Ireland and middle Josh Ecklund stretched Mac’s lead to 18-9.
A late surge saw Windsor close within seven points, but a service error from Gyemi gave the home side the side-out it needed, and McMaster closed out the match two points later after Passalent chased a double block with a massive unblocked kill from the right on match point.
Source: McMaster Marauders