Box Score Another brutally efficient performance from Danny Demyanenko guided the Marauders through a difficult encounter with the Ryerson Rams on Wednesday. While McMaster came away from Toronto with a straight-sets victory, it was won by the smallest of margins and competitive throughout.
Set scores were 25-23, 25-23 and 30-28 for the Marauders, who extended their conference winning streak to seven matches with the win. McMaster is now 7-1 on the season, and sits alone atop the OUA standings. Since dropping their season opener, the Marauders have won 21 of 22 sets played.
Ryerson, meanwhile, dropped to 6-3, and sits third in the OUA standings.
The country's most efficient hitter, Demyanenko hit a remarkable .750 on Wednesday, converting 13 of 16 hitting attempts versus just one error, while adding two aces and a block for a match-leading total of 16 points. Outsides Jayson McCarthy and Brandon Koppers also hit double digits on the night, posting 14 and 12 points respectively.
McMaster pulled ahead to begin the match, and held a 16-12 lead at the technical timeout in the first set. But their hosts pushed back as the set reached its conclusion, and had closed the gap to a single point at 22-21. Ultimately, the Marauders came away with the set when a misplay on the Rams side of the net saw a loose ball tip off a blocker and fall out of bounds.
It was Ryerson's turn to take the early lead in the second, and the Rams held a five-point advantage at the technical timeout. But a spate of service errors gave McMaster an opening to spring the comeback, and they once again came out on the winning end of a two-point set.
The Rams seemed poised to send the match to a fourth set when they opened a five-point gap at 21-15 in the third, forcing a Marauder timeout. But McMaster struck back once again and forced the set into extra points, ending the match with an emphatic final point for 30-28 and 3-0.
McMaster will look to continue its red-hot run of form when the Marauders continue their tour of Toronto with a match against the Varsity Blues on Saturday.
