The good news just keeps on coming for the McMaster men’s volleyball team.  The conclusion of the National Team Challenge Cup competition, held at the national training centre in Gatineau, saw several Marauder players and recruits recognized for their outstanding play.

The Challenge Cup brings together various provincial teams with rosters that had an under-20 age limit, for a tournament style competition.  This year’s event also served as an evaluation tool to help select the roster for the Canadian Junior National Team, being coached this year by McMaster Coach Dave Preston.  Players had to be under-19 to be eligible for the Canadian junior squad.

The winning team was Ontario Black, one of three teams in the event from Ontario, which defeated Quebec Élite in the final.   Named to the Challenge Cup tournament All-Star team were Marauder players Austin Smith and Jori Mantha, while recently announced recruit Danny Demyanenko was named the Most Valuable Player of the competition.

Marauder fans got more reason to be excited when the junior national team roster was announced, as it included Danny Demyanenko, fellow Mac recruit Stephen Maar, and current Marauder Daniel Groenveld.  All three of these players will now accompany Coach Preston to the Junior NOCECA Championship tournament, being held in Colorado Springs, USA from August 24 to September 2, 2012.   

NORCECA is the zone designation for North America, Central America, and Caribbean volleyball federations.
McMaster assistant coach Parrish Offer was in charge of Team Ontario Red for the Challenge Cup and saw his team finish 7^th overall, but also enjoyed seeing so many Marauders dominate the competition. “It truly was an excellent week for Ontario Volleyball, and extra special for our McMaster volleyball family. It is unprecedented for us to have such a young strong core be recognized as all-stars and be selected to the Junior National Team. Now that Team Ontario is over, I am really looking forward to this fall.”

The Canadian Junior Team is currently still training in Gatineau, but Coach Preston will be bringing the team to McMaster for a week-long training camp on August 5^th, as part of preparations for the NORCECA tournament.