Box Score
It was a night to remember at the PAC on Friday as the Waterloo Warriors handed the No. 1 McMaster Marauders their first loss of the season in 5-sets (30-32, 29-27, 13-25, 25-22, 15-10). The Warriors had the 525 fans in attendance on the edge of their seat in this see-saw contest which saw Waterloo change the momentum midway through the fourth en route to the upset victory.
Waterloo moves to sole possession of second place in the OUA with a 12-3 record while McMaster remains in first at 14-1.
The opening set was an early indication that both teams were in for a dog fight as the combatants went toe-for-toe with blistering kills and acrobatic digs throughout. McMaster held the edge the entire set and found the winning point on a kill by middle blocker Alexander Elliott to take it 32-30.
The Warriors responded in yet another tightly contested set which saw both teams make several service errors down the stretch. A hitting error by Danny Demyanenko of the Marauders would hand Waterloo the set 29-27 to even the match at one set a piece.
The Marauders came out flying in the third set flexing their number one ranked muscles and taking advantage of sloppy play by the Warriors as they cruised to the 25-13 set victory.
The fourth would prove to be the set of the match which saw the never-say-die Warriors come to life. With McMaster taking an early 10-5 lead in the set, Waterloo head coach
Chris Lawson would shake things up putting a pair of rookies on in
Jordan McConkey (Stratford/) and
Gibson Graham (Markham/). McConkey would make several key blocks while Graham did an impeccable job giving Waterloo different looks to get the Warriors back into the set.
Down only 20-16, fifth year left side
Aleks Poldma (Toronto/Warriors) would step to the service line and tally eight straight points to give Waterloo a comfortable 24-20 lead. The black and gold would hang to win the set 25-22, sending this thrilling match to a fifth.
Lawson would go back to his starters in the fifth and deciding set and the Waterloo veterans would not disappoint taking an early 4-point lead and maintaining it throughout to top McMaster 15-10 to earn the upset victory.
Leading the way for the Warriors was
James Evans (Rockwood/Warriors) who had an astounding 21 kills while only posting six errors. The fifth year left side also collected seven digs in the match. From the right side Zacahry Doherty was as impressive with 18 kills and only five errors. Rounding out the attack from the outside was Poldma who had 10.
Scott Thomson (St. Marys/) had an impressive 46 assists in the game but struggled from the service line with seven errors. As a team the Warriors had 23 service aces but were able to shake that off and earn the victory. Defensively
Erich Woolley (New Dundee/) was stellar with 23 digs.
For McMaster Jori Mantha was the go to from the left side with 20 kills while Shayne Herbert and Stephen Marr each had 11. Setter Austin Campion-Smith was busy posting 54 assists in a losing effort.
The Warriors will have little rest after such an emotional high when they take on the Guelph Gryphons tomorrow at 8pm on the road.
