Box Score Winners of six straight and nine of their last 10 games, the Queen's Gaels posed a legitimate challenge to the CIS no. 2-ranked Marauders on Sunday. But McMaster did as it has so often this season, and steadily outplayed Queen's en route to a 3-0 win in Kingston.
Set scores were 25-21, 25-20 and 25-19 for the Marauders, who won their 13th straight match and accomplished their ninth consecutive sweep. The streak has seen 27 successful sets come and pass since McMaster last dropped one — in a 3-1 win over the York Lions on Halloween.
With the win, McMaster improves to 13-1 atop the OUA standings, two matches clear of the Ryerson Rams (11-3).
The Marauder offence was firing on all cylinders on Sunday, as McMaster hit for an average of .448 as a team, scoring 48 kills against just nine errors on 87 attempts. Danny Demyanenko led the scoring for the Marauders yet again, with a game-high 14 kills on 21 attempts versus two errors (.571) along with three blocks. Outside hitter Stephen Maar also hit double digits, putting up 12 points on 10 kills and two blocks.
The conference's most efficient passer, Austin Campion-Smith was on peak form on Sunday, posting a total of 41 assists in just three sets.
After watching an early lead evaporate when Demyanenko uncharacteristically missed two overpasses, McMaster rebuilt their advantage and took a two-point cushion into the technical timeout in the first set. That lead ballooned late on, as Queen's committed several errors down the stretch. After Gaels outside Markus Trence was called on the net to bring up set point, Maar got all of an attack through the pipe to seal the opener for the Marauders.
Much as they had in the first, McMaster squandered an early lead in the second set and trailed by a single point at the technical timeout when Phillippe Goyer staged a five-point run from the service line. Second-year Marauder Brandon Koppers responded with a steady service run of his own in the late stages, however, as McMaster embarked on a six-point streak to win the set and take a commanding 2-0 lead.
It was Alex Elliot's turn to demonstrate the value of uncomplicated service in the third, as McMaster took a 12-9 lead on the strength of his third ace of the set. The trademark quick attack from Demyanenko brought the teams into the technical timeout with the Marauders holding a three-point lead, and he produced two more in the dying stages to clinch the match.
Having played their last four matches on the road, the Marauders return home to the Burridge Gym on Friday, where they continue their OUA campaign against the York Lions. That match is scheduled to get underway at 8:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on OUA.tv.
