Box Score Pushed to the brink by the Western Mustangs for the second time this season, the McMaster Marauders once again found their game – and a victory – in the fifth set.
The hosts watched a two-set lead evaporate as Western stormed back to claim consecutive nail-biters in the third and fourth. But the Marauders held their nerve while the Mustangs lost theirs, and rode out a 15-10 decision in the final set to preserve their perfect OUA record. Tied for the CIS no. 1 ranking, McMaster moved to 11-0 on the season while Western cruelly fell to 8-3.
Jori Mantha shouldered the offensive load for the Marauders on Friday, as he has done on so many occasions this season. The fourth-year outside hitter finished with 23.5 points – a season high for him – after converting on 20 of 36 hitting attempts with just three errors (47.2 per cent) and adding three aces and a block assist.
Pawel Jedrzejewski led all players with 11 digs.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs enjoyed a productive night in the middle, with Luke Sim pacing Western with 21.5 points on 16 of 21 hitting with one error (71.4 per cent), an ace and a total of four and a half blocks. Fellow middle hitter Phil James had 19 points on 15 of 25 hitting, while notching two aces and two solo blocks.
The two teams opened the match on shaky ground, with a flurry of service errors exchanged between the sides before rally play could settle in. In what was an exceptionally closely-contested set, the Marauders ground out a late lead to claim it.
Western appeared to have the second frame well in hand, when they carried a healthy lead into the technical timeout. But McMaster coach Dave Preston inserted Shayne Herbert into the lineup at the break, who made an immediate impact, particularly on the block.
Herbert's emotional solo denial nudged the Marauders ahead at 21, and they doggedly held off the Mustangs for a two-set advantage.
But Western would not squander its chances in the third or fourth sets, instead using the consistent production of its middle duo to stay just ahead of the hosts. Sim and James hammered away, even as defending OUA MVP Garrett May was finding resistance on the outside.
Fittingly, it was a Sim kill that put the fourth set to bed, as he carved a shot just inside the far sideline to knot the match at two sets apiece.
Momentum pointed to the Mustangs as the fifth and deciding set opened. But the Marauders had other plans.
Jayson McCarthy – whose night on the outside had been quiet to that point – bombed three aces in quick succession, and added two kills as McMaster opened a commanding lead in the abbreviated, 15-point period. A momentary fightback from Western forced a cautionary timeout from Preston, but the night was won when Mantha found the floor at the end of a long rally for 15-10 and 3-2.
Having maintained their spotless OUA record for another day, the Marauders will attempt to add another notch to that 11-match belt on Sunday afternoon, when they welcome the Windsor Lancers to the Burridge Gym to conclude Marauder Weekend. That match is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.
