Marauders to host OUA Final Four; await Saturday's quarter-final winners

BURLINGTON, Ont. – Quarter-final matchups for Ontario University Athletics (OUA) men's volleyball will get underway Saturday, Feb. 27, with three spots at the OUA Final Four at McMaster University up for grabs.

(7) York Lions (9-11) vs. (2) Queen's Gaels (15-5)

Saturday's match will be the third meeting of the season between the Lions and No. 9 nationally ranked Queen's Gaels, however, York hopes that the third time's a charm. 

In their first matchup of the season back on Nov. 7, the Gaels needed four sets to dispatch the Lions 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 26-24, 25-20) on their home court.  Queen's was led by former Lion Marko Dakic (Mississauga, Ont.) and Chris Brunet (Calgary, Alta.) who both smashed 13 kills apiece in the victory.  Dakic, who played for York from 2011-14, including the Lions' last two playoff victories over Queen's, picked up six digs and Brunet 10. The Lions were led by Nicolas Pirnat (Ottawa, Ont.) with 19 kills, while Arthur Szwarc (Toronto, Ont.) had 14 kills and three aces.

The two teams met again on Jan 22 with the then No. 8 ranked Gaels taking a hard fought three set battle (25-20, 26-24, 25-20).  Mike Tomlinson (Stratford, Ont.) led the Gaels with 13 kills, six digs and a .400 hitting percentage, while Dakic had 11 kills and seven digs against his former team. Swarcz once again led the way for the Lions with 14 kills off a .360 hitting percentage for 17 points.

Only two kills separated Szwarc (248) and Dakic (246) during the regular season, as the pair finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in OUA.  Swarcz, a second-year liberal arts & professional studies major, was a force at the net all season for the Lions leading the conference with 1.26 blocks per set.  Not to be outdone, Dakic, a 6-foot-6 outside hitter, finished third in OUA with a .350 hitting percentage.

(5) Waterloo Warriors vs. (4) Toronto Varsity Blues

The Waterloo Warriors and University of Toronto Varsity Blues split their regular season series a game apiece and will battle Saturday afternoon with a ticket to Hamilton, Ont. for the OUA Final Four on the line.

Earlier this season, the Warriors forfeited five games due to the participation of an ineligible player, including their Nov. 15 meeting with the Varsity Blues.

The Warriors made quick work of the visiting Blues in their second meeting on Jan. 23, taking the match 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-23).  Aidan Simone (London, Ont.) was a force to be reckoned with for Waterloo as he finished with 12 kills on just 21 attempts to go along with three blocks and nine digs.  William Colucci (Toronto, Ont.) was the Blues leading scorer with 14.5 points, notching a team-high 11 kills, 3.5 blocks and six digs.

Since that loss to Waterloo, the Blues have been one of the hottest teams in OUA winning six of their last seven, including a 3-2 win over the then No. 1 ranked McMaster Marauders.

Stefan Ristic (Belgrade, Serbia) has established himself as a leader on the court this season for the Blues and his strong play has him in the top five of several conference statistical categories.  The Belgrade, Serbia native finished the regular season second in OUA with 0.47 service aces per set and 4.02 kills per set.

(6) Western Mustangs vs. (3) Ryerson Rams

No two teams in the playoffs are as recently familiar with each other as the Western Mustangs and No. 10 ranked Ryerson Rams, who will be playing each other for the second time in a week when they take to the court on Saturday.

The Rams swept their season series with the Mustangs, including a 3-0 victory last Saturday to close out the regular season.

Lucas Coleman (Brooklin, Ont.) finished with a game-high 17 kills for the Rams while Rob Wojcik (Whitby, Ont.) added 13 kills in the victory. Western's Bryn Ramsay (Whitby, Ont.) had a team-high 15 kills in the loss.

In their first meeting of the season back on Nov. 28, it was Coleman once again wreaking havoc for the Rams as the third-year attacker finished with 23 kills and ten digs in a 3-1 (25-22, 33-31, 25-27, 25-15) Ryerson victory.  Gavin Taylor (Brampton, Ont.), who has missed the final eight games of the season with an injury, had a team-high 17.5 points for the Mustangs.

Wojcik, a fifth-year history major, was a serious weapon all season long from the service line for Ryerson, averaging 0.49 aces per set to lead OUA.  Setter Adam Anagnostopoulos (Waterloo, Ont.) also finished first in OUA for the Rams with 10.94 assists.

(1)  McMaster Marauders (18-2)

The powerhouse and defending OUA champion No. 2 ranked McMaster Marauders await the winners of the three previous games.  With an 18-2 regular season and ranked No. 1 in the country for the majority of the season, the Marauders finished the regular season first in OUA and received a bye through to the semifinal round.

As a team, the Marauders finished the regular season leading the conference in hitting percentage (.317), service aces per set (1.90), blocks per set (2.44) and points per set (17.4).  McMaster only lost 11 sets all season with five of those coming in the final three games of the season after they had already clinched first place.

The Marauders are led by outside hitter Stephen Maar (Aurora, Ont.) who finished the 2015-16 season leading OUA in kills per set (4.29) to go along with a .395 hitting percentage.  The fourth-year history and political science major also averaged 5.0 points per set to lead the league.

McMaster is solid down the middle as 2014-15 OUA Most Valuable Player Danny Demyanenko (Toronto, Ont.) was a force to be reckoned with when he was on the court.  The Toronto, Ont. native missed some time this season with injury but the Marauders hope the extra time off will help.  In 14 matches this season, Demyanenko finished third in OUA in service aces per set (0.43) and block per set (1.10).

The winner of each game will advance to the Thursday, Mar. 3 semifinal round in McMaster's Burridge Gymnasium. The gold and bronze medal games will take place on Friday, Mar. 4.

Catch the action throughout the OUA men's volleyball playoffs, live on OUA.tv.