Host Marauders cruise to quarterfinal win over Warriors at CIS championship

HAMILTON (CIS) – Hungry for a historic title at home, the McMaster Marauders delivered a statement win at the quarterfinal stage of the 50th Men's Volleyball Championships presented by Leggat Auto Group.

A week after dispatching the Waterloo Warriors in an OUA semifinal, the Marauders made short work of their Thursday evening quarterfinal, sweeping the Warriors 25-15, 25-15 and 25-18 to end the first day of the championship.

Improvement from the service line, and a wealth of information on a team that they played just a week ago, were key to McMaster's victory according to head coach Dave Preston.

"We learned a lot in the last five days on Waterloo, and saw them play Queen's again," said Preston. "I don't think that we did a great job early tonight. We missed four of our first seven serves, but we responded really well after that.

"We started to put some serving pressure on them and play some really good defence."

For McMaster player of the game Danny Demyanenko, the success at the line came through a change in his team's approach.

"I think it's a matter of mentality," Demyanenko explained. "We came out trying to compete rather than trying to put serves in. That whole switch gave us a good head space to go into this match."

Meanwhile, Waterloo coach Chris Lawson was left with a learning experience for a young Warriors team with plenty of returning talent.

"Our game is based on really good decision-making and tactical play, and when you get emotional, the ability to make good decisions under pressure disappears and the system collapses," said Lawson. "We have to grow and figure out how to deal with these situations."

Feeding on the energy at the Burridge Gym, the Marauders emerged with purpose and efficiency on Thursday. McMaster hit 44 per cent as a team in the opening set, surging ahead of the Warriors early with the help of middle Danny Demyanenko, who was a constant match-up issue for Waterloo. He had four kills on five attacks in the set, and added his athleticism to the block, which held the Warriors to just eight per cent hitting in the lopsided opening frame.

That trend continued in set two, where the Marauders efficiency only climbed. By set's end, Demyanenko was hitting 88 per cent, killing seven of eight attempts without an error, while OUA MVP Stephen Maar was 10 of 13 on the left side and similarly had no errors to his name.

Waterloo, meanwhile, was struggling in the face of that attack, and the serve that was backing it. With three hitters suffering from negative percentages, the Warriors were hitting just 12 per cent as a team through two sets.

While they cooled somewhat in the third set, McMaster remained the cleaner of the two teams offensively, and were well in control when Maar blasted a shot from the left to bring up the technical timeout at 16-10. There was little to slow McMaster's momentum, and the night was over when Andrew Richards killed through the pipe for 25-18.

STAT LEADERS

McMaster
Kills: Stephen Maar (15)
Points: Stephen Maar (17.5), Jayson McCarthy (13.5), Danny Demyaneko (13.5)
Blocks: Danny Demyanenko (6)
Digs: Stephen Maar (8)
Service aces: Jayson McCarthy (3), Brandon Koppers (2), Stephen Maar (2)

Player of the match: Danny Demyanenko

Waterloo
Kills: Braden Cok, Aidan Simone (8)
Points: Braden Cok (9), Aidan Simone (8.5)
Blocks: Aidan Simone, Trevor Coathup, Jordan McConkey (1)
Digs: Patrick Surette (9)
Service aces: Braden Cok (1)

Player of the match: Erich Woolley

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Thursday, March 10
13:00 Quarter-final #1: Trinity Western 3, Ryerson 1 (25-15, 15-25, 25-15, 25-15)
15:00 Quarter-final #2: Alberta 3, Laval 0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-19)
18:00 Quarter-final #3: Saskatchewan 3, UNB 2 (23-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 15-10)
20:00 Quarter-final #4: McMaster 3, Waterloo 0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-18)

Friday, March 11
13:00 Consolation #1: Ryerson vs. Laval (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Consolation #2: UNB vs. Waterloo (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:00 Semifinal #1: Alberta vs Trinity Western (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
20:00 Semifinal #2: Saskatchewan vs. McMaster #4 (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Saturday, March 12
13:00 5th place (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Bronze medal (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:00 Championship final (Cable 14 & www.CIS-SIC.tv) *

* Tape delayed to 22:00 on Cable 14.