It was a struggle at times, but the McMaster women's volleyball team snapped its two-game losing streak by beating the Brock Badgers 3-1 on Friday night in Hamilton.  Set scores were: 25-19, 23-25, 25-23, and 25-17. 

The match was 30 minutes late starting as the officials were delayed by massive traffic problems on surrounding highways that made getting to the McMaster campus a tough chore.

The opening set saw McMaster assume control early, leading 16-10 at the technical time-out and closing out a 25-19 win.

With a one-set lead, McMaster seemed well on its way and was leading 15-11 in the second set when things took a turn in the Badgers direction.  A series of unforced errors allowed Brock to storm back and at the technical break, the Badgers were in front 16-15.   Marauder coach Tim Louks went to his bench to try to regain the momentum and McMaster was able to grab a 23-22 lead.  But a service error allowed Brock to tie the score and the Badgers served out the set to even the match at one-set apiece.

Brock seemed poised to take over the match and held a 16-13 lead at the technical timeout in the third set.  McMaster continued to make substitutions, looking for an effective combination.  The Marauders grabbed the lead, but the Badgers fought back to even the score at 23-23, before Brock made two errors to give the set and the lead in the match to McMaster.

The Marauders started the fourth set like they wanted to send Brock on its way home, grabbing a 14-6 lead, and in front 16-10 at the technical break.   Behind some strong play from Lauren Mastroluisi and Taylor Brisebois, the Marauders kept up the pressure and won 25-17, with a Brisebois block ending the match.

Brisebois had 21 points, which included 17 kills, and an outstanding kill-percentage of .616%.   Mastroluisi and Joanna Jedrzejewska both registered 13 points.  Defensively, Mastroluisi was solid with 20 digs, while libero Khira Adams had 14, many of the sensational variety.

McMaster will head to Guelph on Saturday, November 29^th for a 6 p.m. match with the Gryphons, before heading into the exam and holiday break period.  OUA play will resume in January of the new year.