Marauders sweep Dalhousie for bronze in CIS volleyball tournament
The McMaster men's volleyball team captured a bronze medal at last weekend's CIS championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The University has now medalled in three consecutive national tournaments. Jori Mantha led the match with 11 kills on 21 attempts versus three errors while adding an ace.
It was a curtain call for one Marauder star, while another gave a strong sign of things to come on Saturday.
The outside duo of Jori Mantha and Brandon Koppers led McMaster to a sweep of the Dalhousie Tigers, as the Marauder men’s volleyball team repeated as CIS bronze medallists.
McMaster has now medalled in three consecutive national tournaments.
Bronze was not the colour that McMaster envisioned themselves playing for in Saskatoon, after riding into the CIS tournament as the top seed and winners of their previous 25 matches in all competitions.
But a semifinal loss to Trinity Western consigned them to the bronze-medal match, where their win guaranteed that three representatives of the OUA will compete at the national tournament in a year’s time.
Playing in his final match as a Marauder, Jori Mantha led the match with 11 kills on 21 attempts versus three errors (.381) while adding an ace. His second-year teammate Brandon Koppers was similarly effective, making good on 10 of 20 attempts versus four errors (.300) while adding two and a half blocks to lead the match with 12.5 points.
Also at the end of his varsity career, setter Austin Campion-Smith had a game high 32 assists.
Side-out volleyball reigned early on Saturday, with both teams struggling to maintain pressure from the service line. But McMaster found their opening when Dalhousie setter Jonathan MacDonald was called on a double touch, giving the Marauders a 10-8 lead.
The OUA champions began to exert their influence after the ensuing timeout, and led 16-13 at the technical timeout. A service error from the Tigers brought up set points at 24-21, and after Dalhousie saved the first two, Jayson McCarthy found the floor from the right to seal the first set.
A strong start by Dalhousie had McMaster reeling just five points into the second set, with the Marauders trailing 4-1. But the Marauders fought back immediately, and took the lead at 6-5 when Alex Elliott fooled Dalhousie with a floated ace.
A Koppers kill brought the teams into the technical timeout at 16-11, and McMaster only built on the lead from there — embarking on a five-point run to lead 21-12 after a Mantha ace. It was the veteran who brought the second to a close a few short points later, wiping a shot off hands and deep for 25-16.
McMaster endured another slow start in set three, losing six of the first seven points and calling time in an attempt to regroup. That break served the Marauders well, as they immediately began to chip away at the deficit. After tying the set at 14, McMaster pulled ahead to take a 16-15 lead at the technical timeout on an attacking error by Dalhousie hitter Kristen O’Brien.
Two more errors by O’Brien gave McMaster all the cushion that they needed, and after Danny Demyanenko killed to bring up match point, the Marauders won it on an error by Tigers middle Justin Lynch.
