Box Score Absorbing a tough first set on Thursday night, the Marauders displayed their resilience to dispatch a dangerous Ryerson Rams team in four sets. The second-ranked team in the OUA East, the Rams sealed the opening frame 25-18, but the Marauders responded by sweeping through the next three, including a hard-fought 25-23 decision in the third.

Set scores were ultimately 18-25, 25-16, 25-23 and 25-13 in favour of McMaster, who improved to 14-2 and remained atop the OUA West standings with the win. Ryerson, meanwhile, fell to 12-4 and a full four matches behind the unbeaten Toronto Varsity Blues in the OUA East.

Mere days after being named as McMaster's Female Athlete of the Week, Rebecca Steckle shone yet again on Thursday, hitting at a 47 per cent clip while knocking down eight kills and adding four total block. Middle Taylor Brisebois, and middle-turned-outside Jill Eisenhauer, led the Marauders with identical totals of 12.5 points in the win.

A match that was otherwise neck-and-neck was largely decided by McMaster's ability to create havoc from the service line, as the Marauders amassed 13 aces in the victory and often forced their opponents out of system by pressing on their first pass. Their tactic of serving at Ryerson outside Veronica Livingston in particular paid dividends, as the Marauders induced six reception errors from the offensive standout.

First blood went to the visitors, as Ryerson used a mid-set run to grab hold of the first, eventually sealing it when a Lauren Mastroluisi swing landed wide of the mark for 25-18.

But McMaster recovered quickly, and forced a timeout from their opponents just three points into the second after a trio of Ryerson errors. A pair of service runs from Maicee Sorensen and setter Michelle Chelladurai staked Mac to a 12-4 lead, following one of Steckle's eight kills on the night, and the Rams burned their second team timeout of the set before the technical. From there, the Marauders stayed firmly in control, and led by as many as 10 points before a Jill Eisenhauer ace brought up set point and a Ryerson error ended it two points later.

Unwilling to go down without a fight, the Rams forced a see-saw battle in the third set. Mac gained separation just before the technical timeout when Mira Krunic killed from the right to cap a Sorensen service run at 15-11, but that lead proved short-lived. A six-point run by the Rams with setter Emily Betteridge at the line vaulted the visitors ahead 19-16, before the set took another turn, and Mac embarked on a run of their own to lead 22-20 after an error from Ryerson's Sim Gill.

After the visitors pulled level, Mac proved themselves the steadier side, watching as two Ryerson errors brought up set points, before a Maicee Sorensen kill sealed it and pulled the Marauders ahead two sets to one.

Working methodically as the fourth set began, McMaster moved ahead 11-6 with Brisebois at the service line, and a second run after the technical timeout proved fatal as the Marauders stretched their advantage to nine points at 20-11. From there, the match was purely academic, and the hosts brought their night to a close with an emphatic double block courtesy of Steckle and Sorensen.