Mac delivers statement to advance to OUA Final Four

HAMILTON, Ont. - With home court ahead of them for the remainder of their late winter playoff journey, the Marauders opened the OUA postseason with a bang Saturday, demolishing the Nipssing Lakers in three sets.

McMaster hit a whopping .409 as a team and earned 24 more points than their opponents, sweeping Nipissing 25-13, 25-8, 25-18 to earn the right to host the OUA Final Four for a sixth consecutive season on March 9 and 10.

The top seed in the OUA West remains in the hunt for their sixth consecutive conference banner, which would be an OUA record.

Their next opponents will be the OUA West's third-seeded Windsor Lancers, who upset the York Lions in four sets in North York earlier Saturday. That match will be the second of the opening night of the Final Four, scheduled for 8:00 p.m. on Friday, March 9 at Burridge Gym.

Three Marauders, Brandon Koppers (Georgetown, ON), Andrew Richards (London, ON) and Matthew Passalent (Hamilton, ON) reached double digits in scoring in the abbreviated win, with Koppers leading all scorers with 11 kills and 14 points on the night.

Committing just three errors on 17 attempts, Koppers hit .471 and added an ace and two blocks in a commanding performance on the left side.

Not to be outdone, Richards had nine kills on 15 attempts versus two errors (.467) and added two aces and a block assist for 11.5 points, while Passalent had seven kills and three aces.

Aggressive and successful from the service line throughout Saturday's contest, the Marauders racked up nine aces and were a minus three from the line, with 12 errors. Their pressure kept Nipissing out of system early and often, and the Lakers suffered offensively, committing 18 errors versus 14 kills and hitting a collective -.067.

GAME FLOW

The visitors opened brightly Saturday, and led the first set 5-4 in front of a raucous traveling fanbase before a pivotal service run from Passalent brought their momentum to a screeching halt. The Marauders third-year opposite oversaw an eight-point run which included two aces, and vaulted his team into a 12-5 lead.

From there, McMaster put pedal to metal in the opener, and needed just one set point to clinch it when Richards injected some pace into the pipe ball for 25-13.

With momentum firmly in hand, the Marauders were ruthless in the second, hitting .625 as a group and committing just one error versus 11 kills to speed away from their helpless visitors.

Leading by 12 at the technical timeout after a Koppers ace, Mac relinquished just four more points and rode an 8-2 run to the finish line, closing the set on the second time of asking with another kill from Richards.

A downturn from the Marauders early in set three helped the Lakers stay in touch, and they led by as many as three points before another Passalent service run guided the teams into the technical timeout with Mac holding a 16-14 advantage 

That marked the end of a serious challenge from Nipissing, as McMaster won nine of the last 13 points of the match to power to the sweep.

Source: McMaster Marauders