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The road ends here.
Regardless of what happens at the CIS Men’s Volleyball National Championship this weekend, McMaster’s historic season will end.
Since coming to McMaster in 2002, Head Coach Dave Preston has amassed a 247-77 overall record in his 14 seasons at the helm of the program. After beating Waterloo and Ryerson at the OUA Final Four last weekend, McMaster became freshly minted conference champs for the fourth consecutive year. McMaster has won seven of the last nine OUA banners. In addition to that, Preston has led McMaster to the CIS championships nine times in the last 11 years and has medaled three times (2013, 2014, 2015).
He’s a proven winner. His track record speaks for itself.
Preston enters this week boasting an impressive resumé having led his team tow a 22-3 record vs. CIS teams, producing four conference all-stars (Stephen Maar, Danny Demyanenko, Andrew Kocur, Pawel Jedrzejewski), and two OUA all-rookie team members (Craig Ireland and Matt Passalent). Up to now the Marauders have secured two of their three goals for the season. They’ve secured home court throughout the playoffs and they’ve won a conference title. Coach Preston has turned McMaster into a perennial powerhouse, but they are missing one thing: a national championship.
The closest McMaster has come to national glory was in 2013 when they were national runner-ups. Beyond that they’ve gotten two bronze medals in 2014 and 2015. Their 2016 outcome has yet to be determined.
“We’re where we want to be entering this weekend. One thing I told the team is to never take these things for granted. Sometimes when you win four conference titles in a row, you can take them for granted,” said Preston. “Winning OUA championships doesn’t get old. People dream of being OUA champions. I don’t want our guys to discount that prize. It’s a big deal and now there’s another big deal ahead of us.”
Last weekend at the OUA Final Four, Burridge Gym gave us a foretaste of what this weekend will be like. The gym was filled to the rafters and the Marauders had incredible support. There was no shortage of noise and each Marauder point against Waterloo and Ryerson would incite explosive applause from their faithful.
“I think our support around here from the top-down is unbelievable. It’s awesome for our student-athletes to be able to play in that environment,” said Preston. “I don’t want to take that for granted because not many student-athletes get to feel that. It was electric last weekend. I fully understand that this weekend will be even more electric.”
McMaster’s pride hasn’t gone unnoticed by visitors.
“The reason I know it’s amazing is because I hear student athletes from other schools talk about how awesome it is here,” said Preston. “I don’t want our guys to take our home environment for granted. We’re very well supported and I want our guys to appreciate that too. We’re going to take full advantage of it.”
For the first time in months, outside hitters Brandon Koppers and Andrew Richards returned to the floor, as did veteran middle Alex Elliott. All were missed and warmly welcomed by the fans. A mosaic of what McMaster has become was on full display last weekend with all-star upperclassmen and all-rookies playing side-by-side. Setter Andrew Kocur won OUA Final Four MVP and middle Danny Demyanenko won player of the match in the title game. OUA MVP Stephen Maar continued being his dominant self, leading the team in scoring throughout the weekend.
Teams cannot reduce McMaster to a single threat because they have a team of guys that can each dominate on any given night. The depth and rhythm are there and peaking at most important time of the year. A deep bench and contributions across the board are two trademarks of championship teams.
“This is what our guys signed up for. I even tell that to recruits. We go through our other matches so that we can get to these ones,” said Preston. “We do what we need to do in order to do what we want to do. Playing for a national championship is something we want to do and that’s what we’re going to take advantage of. Other student athletes can only dream of doing what we’re doing here.”
It’s a special time at McMaster. All eyes will be on Burridge from March 10-12. McMaster will be the center of the CIS volleyball world as schools from all over the country will be here to compete for national gold. Competing schools include the University of New Brunswick, Trinity Western, Alberta, Waterloo, Ryerson, Laval and Saskatchewan.
McMaster plays in a national quarterfinal at 8 p.m. on March 10 against a familiar foe in Waterloo. The stars have aligned up to now and it’s up to Mac to make program history.
“These opportunities are extremely rare for student athletes. To compete for a national championship on your homecourt in front of your home fans is as good as it gets. It’s an exciting opportunity for these guys,” said Preston. “My job is to make sure they’re prepared and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that happens. These are the things young guys dream about.”
Photo Credit: Jon White/ Photo Editor
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