Ohio State Buckeyes Men's Volleyball Returning to Hamilton
Continuing a cross-border rivalry that started in 2014, the McMaster men's volleyball team will welcome the NCAA champion Ohio State Buckeyes to Hamilton for a pair of matches on Saturday, October 21st at 7-pm and Sunday, October 22nd at 2-pm.
The Ohio State has won the last two NCAA national championships, while the Marauders are riding a string of five consecutive OUA titles. The last time these volleyball titans saw each other was on December 30, 2016, when a capacity crowd packed into the Burridge Gym for the Buckeyes' first visit to Canada. The large horde of home fans cheered the Marauders on to victory in the single match 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 32-30).
"We are very excited to have the defending NCAA champions in our gym again," said Marauder Coach Dave Preston. "This will be a great opportunity for our student-athletes to play at an extremely high level, while giving our fans another chance to see some world-class competition."
"I can't think of a better way to help prepare ourselves to compete for a National Championship in our own gym next March," adds Preston.
With Ohio State eager for a another shot at their Canadian rivals, and due to the tremendous response shown by the local volleyball community, McMaster Coach Preston and Ohio State mentor Pete Hanson have added a second match to the October weekend visit.
Since the Marauders' first trip to Columbus in 2014, McMaster has enjoyed a slight edge in the head-to-head match-up versus the Buckeyes, by winning three of the five matches played.
Tickets are on sale now at marauders.ca or by emailing tickets@mcmaster.ca.
Source: ontariovolleyball.org