KINGSTON, Ont. - The McMaster squash teams traveled to the Queen's Athletics and Recreation Centre for the 2023 OUA Squash Championships in search of a spot on the podium.
Both the McMaster men's and women's teams faced off with the Waterloo Warriors on Friday morning in the first contest of the pool play round.
On the men's side, McMaster was swept 7-0 by the Waterloo Warriors before falling to the Toronto Varsity Blues by an identical scoreline. With the sweeps, the Marauders closed out the first day of competition with an 0-2 record. On Saturday morning, the maroon and grey matched-up with the Brock Badgers. Three Marauders picked up wins to put the first points of the weekend on the scoreboard for the Hamilton squad. Despite this, Brock edged McMaster 4-3 in the final round robin contest. With an 0-3 record, the Marauders faced the Guelph Gryphons in a consolation semifinal but dropped the match 7-0. In the final contest of the weekend, the Ottawa Gee-Gees defeated McMaster in the 7th place game on Sunday morning.
For the women, the Marauders opened the tournament with two straight wins in Pool B, topping the Waterloo Warriors 5-2 and the Western Mustangs 5-2 Friday at the Athletics and Recreation Centre. On Saturday, McMaster earned a 7-0 win over Brock to start the day to finish round robin play undefeated. The top seed in Pool B, the Marauders edged the Varsity Blues 5-2 in the semifinals to set up a gold medal match with the Queen's Gaels on Sunday.
With the most meaningful game to be played on the third and final day of competition, the Marauders faced the hosts and defending OUA Champions - the Queen's Gaels. A very strong team, the Gaels picked up a 7-0 victory in the title match en route to their eighth straght OUA Women's Squash Championship. In the bronze medal game, the Mustangs defeated the Varsity Blues.
Despite the loss, McMaster finished capped off its season with a second place finish and the silver medal. The maroon and grey also ended the year as the top team in the 2023 University Jesters League for the first time in McMaster women's squash history. Two Marauders received conference accolades. Head Coach, Roozbeh Amirian, was named the Women's Division Coach of the Year while Aparna Maheshwari was named an All-Star.
Showing marked improvement from last season's sixth place finish, the Marauders' future is bright and they will be sure to challenge for the banner once again next season.
