A day after opening their account at the Innisbrook Invitational in Clearwater, Florida with a pair of wins, the Marauders hit a stumbling block in the form of the Sherbrooke Vert et Or. The CIS no. 10-ranked RSEQ squad dealt Mac a 3-0 sweep in the team's only match of the day, while the no. 9 McGill Martlets won all six sets they played on New Year's Eve.

Sherbrooke battled past McMaster in a neck-and-neck first set, winning it 26-24 in extra points, before taking the second and third by more conventional 25-18 and 25-19 scores.

Early momentum went the way of Mac, as the Marauders led the opening set 12-8 after an inspired service run from Lauren Mastroluisi. That lead would swell to five points at the break, before Sherbrooke began their successful comeback bid. With Mac just four points from the set, the Vert et Or won 11 of the next 14 points, flipping the script on the set and grabbing the 1-0 overall lead.

Errors began to creep into the Marauders game in set two, and the Vert et Or capitalized to take a 16-9 lead at the technical timeout. That lead proved to be too much for Mac to overcome, and Sherbrooke handily took the set and the 2-0 lead at 25-18.

The Vert et Or established an early lead yet again in the third set, jumping ahead 8-4 with the help of Sarah-Jeanne Meunier-Bedard, whose efforts on the outside got the best of the Marauders. That trend continued into the technical timeout, where Sherbrooke built an imposing 16-8 lead that Mac would not recover from.

Meunier-Bedard had a team-leading 10 kills for the Vert et Or, while teammate Veronique David hit a super-efficient 54 per cent with seven kills. Middle Maicee Sorensen responded with seven kills for the Marauders, while libero Carly Heath collected 13 digs on a busy afternoon.

In the first match of the day, the McGill Martlets rebounded from a day one loss to McMaster with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-18) sweep of the Brandon Bobcats, who were forced through injury troubles to deploy CIS Libero of the Year Donata Huebert as both a setter and left side.

Blocking and steadiness from the service line helped the Martlets build a 10-5 lead in the first set, and despite seeing that advantage shrink to just two points at the technical timeout, McGill recovered well after the break. The Bobcats drew within three points at 22-19, before McGill reeled off three of the next four points to clinch the set.

After a neck-and-neck opening to set two, McGill began to assert its dominance, and took a six-point advantage into the technical timeout. The Martlets remained consistent, and gave the Bobcats little room to reenter the set, eventually claiming it, and a two-set lead, 25-19.

Facing elimination, Brandon began the third set strongly, and led 11-7 as the teams barrelled toward the technical timeout. But the Martlets constructed a crucial 9-3 run to overhaul their deficit and lead 16-14 at the break, and would not look back from there.

Marie Eve Dorion led McGill with 11 kills in the victory, while Myrian Robitaille enjoyed a well-rounded performance with 10 kills and five blocks. Brandon's Shanlee McKinnon stood out in a losing effort, contributing 12 kills and two aces.

The Martlets completed their New Year's Eve doubleheader with a sweep of the Brock Badgers (25-13, 25-20, 27-25) in the day's final match.

Crisp from the opening whistle, McGill scored six of the match's first seven points to put Brock firmly on the back foot. That dominance continued into the technical timeout, where the Martlets held a 16-7 lead. Strong hitting from Catherine Amyot helped McGill run away with the first set by a 12-point margin.

After a strong McGill start to the second set, Brock battled back to within two points at 16-14 through kills from middle Shaniah Wielink. That would be as close as the Badgers would come, however, as a pivotal service run from Dorion propelled the Martlets to a 23-19 lead, which they would see to the finish line just three points later.

A three-point run to begin the third set staked Brock to an early lead, but more steady service helped McGill to immediately overturn it. They embarked on a 14-4 run to gain control, and led 16-10 at the technical timeout. But the Badgers showed considerable fight with their backs against the wall, as a trio of aces from Alexis Gregorio and blocking from Abby Jenkins moved the OUA side to within a point at 18-17.

A rash of McGill errors allowed Brock to take a 21-20 lead, before the Martlets eventually saw out the set and match in extra points when an Amyot kill and McGill ace closed the night at 27-25.

Amyot led the Martlets with a balanced performance that included 10 kills, four aces and a block, as well as 10 digs. Meanwhile, Brianna Hamilton was solid in defeat for the Badgers, posting seven kills and five digs.

The teams enjoy a day off court on New Year's Day, before returning to action on January 2.

Wednesday December 30th, 2016

2pm     McMaster  defeated  Brock             3-0            25-13, 25-18, 25-12       
4pm     Sherbrooke defeated Brandon        3-0            25-21, 25-18, 25-20
6pm     McMaster defeated McGill             3-2     10-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 15-11

Thursday December 31st, 2016

12pm     McGill defeated Brandon              3-0            25-20, 25-19, 25-18   
2pm     Sherbrooke defeated McMaster        3-0            26-24, 25-18, 25-19
4pm     McGill defeated Brock             3-0            25-,13  25-20, 27-25