March 5, 2017

Marauders to host OUA Final Four for fifth straight season after straight sets win

There was no drama to be found at the Burridge Gym, Saturday, as the Marauders methodically dismantled the Queen's Gaels to bring the OUA Final Four to the Burridge Gym for a fifth consecutive season.

Queen's

McMaster

In Progress - 3rd

Queen's

McMaster

There was no drama to be found at the Burridge Gym, Saturday, as the Marauders methodically dismantled the Queen's Gaels to bring the OUA Final Four to the Burridge Gym for a fifth consecutive season.

A week after sweeping the Gaels in the penultimate match of their regular season, the Marauders gave a repeat performance in Saturday's OUA quarterfinal (25-15, 25-19, 25-21).

With the result, the U SPORTS no. 3-ranked McMaster advanced to the Final Four, which they will host at the Burridge Gym on March 10 and 11. Their first encounter of the tournament comes in a Friday semifinal against the Ryerson Rams, slated for first serve at 8:00 p.m.

The Marauders swept the Rams in their only meeting this season in Toronto.

The duo of Brandon Koppers and Danny Demyanenko led the charge for the Marauders, with both scoring 11.5 points in the win. The third set was Demyanenko's strongest as he came up big for the Marauders, scoring 6.5 points in the final set alone.

Andrew Kocur assisted on 30 of the Marauders 51 points against the Gaels.

Markus Trence set the pace for the visitors, scoring 12 points in a losing effort.

In the first set, Queen's coughed up 12 errors and had a hitting percentage of -.292. Despite improving those numbers in the second, the Gaels saw their opponents take a leap in efficiency of their own, bettering their .167 hitting percentage from the first and taking the second set 25-19 while hitting .419.

McMaster's blocking, and a total of 20 Queen's errors, aided in keeping the Gaels percentage low throughout the match.

Source: McMaster Marauders