Box Score They struggled to find their form for much of the night, but the Marauders overcame a sloppy match on both ends of the court to battle past the Western Mustangs in five sets on Saturday.

Down two sets to one, the Marauders outlasted the Mustangs in a nail-biting fourth that advanced to extra points, before eventually eking out the win (17-25, 25-12, 18-25, 30-28, 15-12). The win was McMaster's third straight in conference play — and sixth across all competitions — improving their record to 8-3 atop the OUA West.

Taylor Brisebois led the Marauders with 18.5 points in the win, including 11 kills, 6.5 blocks and an ace, while outside hitter Joanna Jedrzejewska followed close behind with 18 points and a team-high 14 kills.

A timid start on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball saw the Marauders fall behind the Mustangs early in the opening set, and never overturn the original deficit. McMaster struggled to stay in system offensively, and after a messy rally ended with setter Caitlin Genovy being block to bring up set point, Western ended the first with a cross-court kill for 25-17.

What they lacked defensively in the first set, the Marauders found to great effect in the second. McMaster's blocking efforts came alive, and the passing behind that front-court defence improved as a result. Those factors conspired to make for a hyper-efficient set from McMaster, who scored nine kills on 19 attempts and committed just one error as a team (.421).

A four-touch call against Western brought the teams into the second-set technical timeout with McMaster leading 16-10, and that lead only grew as the set went on. The Marauders won nine of the final 11 points, and after Maicee Sorensen and Genovy combined for a block to bring up set point, Western's Windemere Jarvis fired long to knot the match at a set apiece.

Three consecutive points fell in the Marauders favour to begin the third, suggesting that they were intent on riding their momentum from the second. But that lead evaporated quickly, and Western sped ahead as McMaster returned to its bad habits of the first set. The Mustangs led by eight at the technical timeout, and despite something of a comeback attempt in the late stages, the hosts were never truly threatened as they won the third 25-18.

With their backs against the wall, the Marauders fought the Mustangs to side-out volleyball in the fourth, despite still searching for their top form. Both teams saw multiple opportunities to win the set come and pass before McMaster eventually took it 30-28, when Taylor Brisebois saw her serve graze the tape and fall in front of the Western defenders.

It was a moment of good fortune, but the Marauders did well to exploit it as they moved to the decisive fifth set, winning five of the first six points and forcing a Mustang timeout after Aja Gyimah's attack flew long. A spectacular solo block by Lauren Mastroluisi kept McMaster in the driver's seat with an 8-3 lead at the changeover, but Western had one final push in store before the match came to an end. Western drew within a point at 10-9 before Jedrzejewska put a textbook kill to the floor from the pipe to halt the hosts' run, and the Marauders would steady themselves to see out the comeback victory.

McMaster will look to keep their winning streak alive tomorrow, as they travel to Windsor to take on the Lancers. That match will get underway at 2:00 p.m. and can be seen live on OUA.tv.