Marauders sweep Ryerson for fourth straight OUA men's volleyball title

Hamilton, ON -- It was an uncharacteristic way for one of the country's most productive and varied offensive teams to win a championship, but the Marauders won't be found complaining.

Playing in front of their home fans a week before hosting the CIS Championship tournament, McMaster claimed its fourth consecutive OUA title on Friday, sweeping the Ryerson Rams in three sets dominated by defence. Scores were 25-22, 25-21 and 25-22 in favour of the Marauders, who won without an excess of drama despite hitting just nine per cent as a team.

"Our offensive numbers weren't anything to write home about," conceded Marauder head coach Dave Preston. "But I thought we played some really gritty defence."

The recently-named OUA Most Valuable Player, Stephen Maar led the Marauders and the match with a total of 12.5 points, notching eight kills, three aces and a block and a half. But in a match where hitting percentages struggled, it was all-star Danny Demyanenko who supplied the steadiest attack through the middle, with five kills on 13 attempts versus one error (31 per cent). He was named as the Player of the Match for his efforts in the win.

Perhaps the most telling disparity between the two teams on Friday came at the service line, where Ryerson conceded 17 points via service errors while scoring just one ace. McMaster, by comparison, committed 15 errors but countered with 10 aces. It was an area of Mac's game that improved by leaps and bounds after Thursday's semifinal.

"There was nowhere to go but up," said Preston. "We're trying to find a balance where we can put enough pressure on the opponent to find an advantage, and not take the pressure entirely off the serve receive.

"I think it's a bit of a consequence of us moving the lineup around for the last seven or eight matches, but it's nice to see that over the course of the weekend, it started to get more productive."

Both teams opened the match intent on grinding out points the hard way, and Ryerson took a one-point lead into the first set technical with a block of Jayson McCarthy. Unable to get into an offensive rhythm, neither team was able to pull away until Mac reeled off four of five points from 21-all, and won the set when Brandon Koppers wiped down off a single block.

After a neck-and-neck start to the second set, McMaster embarked on a 6-2 run to take a three-point lead into the technical timeout, bringing up the break when Robert Wojcik mis-hit an attempt from the corner. Speeding ahead 20-14, Mac appeared to have the set in hand, although a late run from Ryerson made things interesting. The Rams closed within two points at 23-21, before Maar chased his own kill with a block of Uchenna Ofoha to seal the second and the 2-0 overall lead. While they hit just 13 per cent in the second, Mac tellingly stifled Ryerson and held the Rams to -12 per cent.

Side-out volleyball ruled the Burridge Gym yet again in the third, with Ryerson's Alex Dawson pushing a tight attack through a double block to bring up the technical at 16-15. Much as they had in the first set, the Marauders found their crucial separation late, forcing a timeout when Wojcik misfired for 23-20, and ending the night four points later when Marc Reardon plunked a serve into the net.