Blues’ serving pressure not enough to secure win against McMaster Marauders

The Blues faced the McMaster Marauders on January 15 at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport. Leading up to this match, the Marauders placed fourth in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) standings, with a 10–2 overall record. 

What happened

At the start of the first set, the Blues came out strong and took an early lead. However, their accumulation of attack errors caught up to them, and the Marauders stole the first set with a total score of 25–17. 

Again, the Blues took an early lead in the second set and went up by eight points, with a score of 11–3. However, this time, they stayed focused and were able to hold onto their lead until the end of the set, securing a 25–17 win against the Marauders. 

In an interview with The Varsity, Julia Murmann, Blues’ outside hitter, said that the Blues “started off strong” but fell short on their attacks near the end, in the third and fourth sets. 

With a win each, both the Blues and the Marauders came out in the third set hungry to take over; the score remained close throughout the set, and they were tied 20–20 near the end. However, the Marauders took the win with a final score of 25–21. 

To make a comeback, the Blues knew they had to give it everything they had in the final set. They put up a good fight and kept it close until the Marauders went on a six-point scoring streak, going up 16–10. 

From that point on, it was hard for the Blues to catch up. The Marauders secured a total score of 25–14, giving them a 3–1 win against the Varsity Blues. 

Despite the final results, Murmann and Jasmine Safar had another outstanding match, leading their team in points and assists. Murmann secured 13 points: 11 off of kills, one ace, and one solo block. Safar finished with 32 assists and seven digs. 

What’s next?

On January 20, the Blues hit the road to face the Windsor Lancers, who currently sit at seventh place in the OUA standings with 7–6 overall and a 0.538 win percentage. The Blues and Lancers have yet to face each other this season but have a match history of 13–0, the Blues being undefeated.

In preparation for this game, Murmann said the Blues should keep up with how theyʼve been serving, as they had obtained many points from their serving against the Marauders on January 15.