The OUA West Division leading McMaster Marauders men's volleyball team looks to clinch its seventh Forsyth Cup in eight seasons, as the team hosts the province's best for the 2020 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Men's Volleyball Final Four championship this week.
 
The four-team event will take place at Burridge Gym, with the semi-finals scheduled for Friday night, and the bronze- and gold-medal games to be played on Saturday. All four games can be seen live online on OUA.tv.

Tickets for the championship can be bought at https://mcmaster.universitytickets.com/
 
The two-day championship promises to be a thrilling event, with each of the top two seeds in each division set to participate, all holding a national rank; the No. 6 nationally ranked Toronto Varsity Blues (17-1) face the No. 10 Guelph Gryphons (11-6) at 5:30pm on Friday night, while the No. 5 Marauders (15-2) take on the No. 4 ranked Queen's Gaels (14-4) at 8pm later that day.
 
It's been a decade of dominance in the OUA for the host Marauders who, as previously mentioned, set the league ablaze capturing six straight Forsyth Cups. In that span, the Marauders have clinched top spot in the OUA for the past eight seasons, going on an impressive 13-game win streak during the 2019-20 regular season.
 
The Gaels enter the stage as the defending champions, ending the Maroon's dominant run of victories last postseason. The Varsity Blues last raised the OUA banner in 2004, capping an impressive run of eight Forsyth Cups in 10 seasons. Meanwhile, the Gryphons reach the Final Four stage in hopes of making history with their first OUA championship.
 
The Marauders and Gaels met once during the regular season, with the latter coming away with a surprising win, 3-0, at the Athletics and Recreation centre in Kingston, Ont. Only three games into the season at that point, the Gaels had actually dropped their opening two matches of the year coming into the tilt.
 
The Marauders went on to sweep nine of their opponents following the loss, en route to clinching the OUA West Division, while the Gaels dominated every opponent they faced henceforth, except the Varsity Blues, who swept their season series, 3-1, at home and on the road.
 
The two squads account for the last 14 straight OUA banners, and with a semi-final matchup scheduled for Friday, legacies will be on the line.
 
The Gryphons hosted the Blues for their sole matchup of the season, with Toronto taking a convincing 3-1 victory in hostile territory. The loss came at the end of a three-game skid for the Gryphons heading into the new year, while the victory was a part of a 13-game streak to end the regular season for the Blues.
 
Three of the four finalists secured their spot in the Final Four championship by way of straight sets in the quarterfinal round, as the Gryphons topped the Ryerson Rams, the Marauders dropped the Nipissing Lakers, while the Gaels took care of the Windsor Lancers, with each winning team capturing the win at home.
 
Meanwhile the OUA East Division leading Blues defeated the Brock Badgers 3-1 at the Goldring Centre last weekend.
 
In addition to the OUA title, the four teams are also competing for a berth at the U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship, hosted by the University of Manitoba Bisons, in Winnipeg Mar. 13-15.
 
With three slots awarded to the OUA, Saturday's medal matches will prove to be exciting, as both the bronze medal winners, and OUA gold medal game finalists will clinch a spot at the national tournament.
 
Friday nights winners will face-off at 8pm on Saturday, while the remaining two teams will battle for bronze at 5:30pm.