The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s volleyball team upset the McMaster Marauders in a five-set thriller (27-25, 19-25, 25-14, 14-25, 15-11) in the Athletic Centre Sports Gym on Friday, Jan. 30th.

2008 CIS all-Canadian Steven Kung (Toronto) once again led the way with 15 kills and seven digs as he willed his team to victory in the fifth and final set, recording the team’s final five kills of the match to help lift the Blues 15-11 down the stretch.

The opening set saw Toronto jump out to an early 8-4 lead before McMaster got the legs under them. Shayne Petrusma (Bowmanville, Ont.) made two huge blocks to put his team ahead 12-13 but the Blues countered immediately with a Mike Manning kill off of a Mac block.

A back-and-forth battle ensued with neither team giving an inch.

After Brad Pierik’s (Toronto) fourth kill of the set knotted things at 25, the Marauders hit their last two returns long to give the Blues the first set 27-25.

McMaster countered in the second set and took advantage of some Toronto miscues for an early 10-4 lead. A Blues timeout didn’t alter the Mac attack as the visitors feasted off of unforced errors and led by as many as nine (20-11), enabling the Marauders to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-19 second-set victory.

The third and fourth sets of the match were identical in score 25-14 and identical in play: tightly contested until the midway mark when one team exploded for six straights points before closing out the game rather handily.

Thanks in large part to Kung’s sensational service exhibition and with the help of a couple of aces, long returns and a double touch, the Blues jumped from a two-point lead to seven-point advantage and would ease to a 25-14 win in the third set.

McMaster quickly returned the favour in the fourth. Up 13-11, Tyler Santoni (Kingston, Ont.) put on a show with a series of kills and blocks to help push the lead to seven (20-13), recording six of his team’s last seven points.

After two and a half hours of action, this game would end just like it started; with a high intensity on both sides of the net.

At 11-9 of the final frame, the Blues managed to get the edge as the Marauders are called for a line violation. On the next play, Mac sent their return long to give Toronto a slight four-point lead (13-9), which would prove to be all they needed to close out the game and match 15-11.

First-year engineering student Mike Manning (Vernon, B.C.) tallied 13 kills and five digs, while fifth-year senior Jessi Lelliott led the Blues with 10 digs and added 10 kills. Deagan McDonald had a fantastic game at the net with 45 assists.

Mac player of the game, Santoni, led all players with 20 kills and added four blocks, while Josh Lichty (St. Catharines, Ont.) had 10 kills and six digs. Fourth-year setter Ryan Hudson recorded 47 assists.

The Varsity Blues are back on the court tomorrow afternoon as they take on the Guelph Gryphons in the Sports Gym. Toronto will be honouring their four graduating athletes in a ceremony prior to the game. Serves up at 4 p.m.