Hamilton, Ont. - The McMaster men's volleyball team continue to dominate in the OUA as they took down the Guelph Gryphons in four on Saturday night at Burridge Gymnasium. Big Mac Player of the Game for McMaster was Jeremy Groenveld.
In the first set of the match, the Marauders and Gryphons would both come out fighting hard for the first lead of the match. It would be McMaster that would earn a three point lead at 10-7 thanks to some serves from middle Tyson Alexander. By the technical timeout, the Marauders would increase their lead to four at 16-12. With digs from libero Sean Lowe and Jeremy Groenveld in the back court, McMaster would seal the deal in the first set 25-17.
The Marauders wouldn't slow down in the second set, as outside hitters Jori Mantha and Kevin Stevens would keep the Gryphons guessing all the way until the end. Taking a lead early on, McMaster would hold on to it through to the technical timeout at 16-12. With Guelph needing a few points to stay alive in the set, the Marauders wouldn't allow it, scoring two more before Guelph was forced to call a timeout. It wouldn't help as a variety of blockers helped take McMaster to the end as they won their second set of the match.
In the third, both teams readed points early on before the Marauders took the lead at 9-6. Buliding on that, the Marauders took to the bench as Guelph was forced to call a timeout at 11-7. Despite McMaster's lead, it disappeared as the Gryphons found a way to tie it all up at 14. After a timeout from the Marauders, they would rally to come within one at the technical timeout, and would tie it up again at 16.
McMaster would once again regain the lead with a huge block from Alexander and a Gryphon on the net would put the Marauders back up by two at 18-16. The lead would change again as the Gryphons would string together a few points from their outside hitters to take a three point lead at 22-19. A hit from Alex Elliott and a block from the middle following that would get McMaster the ball back at 22-21. Down 24-23, the Marauders would miss their serve on the 25th point to give Guelph the third set win.
With the Marauders up 4-0 in the beginning of the fourth set, Guelph called an early timeout and rallied to come within one. Fortunately for McMaster, the Gryphons would be unable to stop the connection between setter Austin Smith and Alexander in the middle and the Marauders would continue to utilize him, going up again 9-5. The Marauders would maintain their four point lead going in to the technical timeout with a score of 16-12. Guelph would call a timeout after a big block from Elliott to give the Marauders a five point lead at 18-13. Daniel Groenveld would come off the bench for McMaster and help the Marauders take down the Gryphons late in the fourth. Up 22-18, McMaster would finish off the set with some smart play by Stevens and some serves from Groenveld. The Marauders would win the fourth 25-18.
Middle Tyson Alexander had an outstanding 23 points in the win, with 11 kills, 12 blocks and an ace. Jeremy Groenveld had 14 points and was named Big Mac Player of the Game, and Jori Mantha and Alex Elliott had 12 points each. Also hitting double digits was Kevin Stevens with 10 more.
For Guelph, Winston Rosser recorded 13 points, Andrew Whittaker added another 11 and Greg Houstin scored 10 more.
The Marauders take to the road next weekend and play Western and Windsor.
