McMaster Finishes Fourth
The fourth-place finish by OUA champion McMaster is the best result in the program’s history and the highest finish by an OUA team since Toronto was fourth in 1997-98. The Marauders’ best ranking in eight previous CIS tourney appearances was a fifth position in 1990-91.
“It’s a process. Last year we got here as the OUA champions and we weren’t able to get through that first round. This year we came here and we got through to the semi-final and next year we have to take that next step,” said Marauders head coach Dave Preston.
“I think we gave it everything we had today, I just don’t think we had very much left in the tank. Our spirit got broken against Laval in the semis, and it takes us longer than 18 hours to recover from a broken spirit. Having never played (Brandon) before it was tough because we weren’t familiar with them, but they have everything you need to be a championship team,” added Preston.
Peter Hrkal was the most productive Marauder on offence with 13 kills and only three errors, a performance that earned him McMaster-MVP honours.
Second-team all-Canadian Jeremy Groenveld was held to nine kills and committed seven errors.
FULL RESULTS
Friday, February 27
Quarter-final #1: Laval 3, Winnipeg 0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20)
Quarter-final #2: McMaster 3, Thompson Rivers 2 (26-24, 23-25, 25-17, 18-25, 15-12)
Quarter-final #3: Alberta 3, UNB 0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-21)
Quarter-final #4: Brandon 3, Dalhousie 2 (17-25, 26-24, 12-25, 25-21, 15-9)
Saturday, February 28
Consolation #1: Thompson Rivers 3, Winnipeg 0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-20)
Consolation #2: Dalhousie 3, UNB 0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-16)
Semi-final #1: Laval 3, McMaster 2 (25-20, 25-23, 30-28)
Semi-final #2: Alberta 3, Brandon 0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-22)
Sunday, March 1
5th place: Dalhousie 3, Thompson Rivers 2 (25-23, 25-15, 19-25, 18-25, 15-12)
Bronze medal: Brandon 3, McMaster 1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-15, 25-17)
Championship final: Alberta 3, Laval 0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-17)
