With McMaster honouring its seniors on the final home match day of their regular season Sunday, it was a fourth-year standout who laid down a landmark performance for the Marauders in a four-set win.
Right side Matt Passalent set a new career single game high with 19 kills, while committing just three errors and hitting .485 to lead his team to its 12th win of the season in a 21-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-19 decision over the York Lions.
Ending the night with 23 points, Passalent also thumped down two aces and added two solo blocks in a virtuoso performance.
One of the three seniors honoured by the Marauders Sunday, alongside Jeff Driediger and Connor Santoni, veteran left side Andrew Richards also reached double digits in points with nine kills, two aces and two solo blocks.
Rookie middle Tyler Pavelic also set a new attacking benchmark Sunday, with a new career single game high of seven kills achieved on 10 touches with two errors (.500).
The afternoon opened poorly for the hosts, who struggled to find their range offensively in the first set en route to just six kills and six errors as a group in the frame.
Taking advantage of their opponents' struggles, the Lions pounced to grab an early lead and held it through a turbulent run to the technical timeout. McMaster climbed to within two points on the eve of that break after an attacking error by York's Andrew Tauhid, but that was as close as the Marauders came in the first.
A kill from Grant Lynch gave the Lions a 23-17 lead, and despite a spirited comeback effort from the Marauders to pull within two yet again, York limped to the finish line when Bennett Swan's attack went for naught.
Slowly turning the tide of play in their favour, the Marauders took control of the second set at its mid-point, and rode a 6-1 run to the technical timeout to take a 16-12 after an ace from Craig Ireland. Continuing to turn the screw after the break, McMaster raced to the set's end as Passalent began to take over, killing four of six points through one particular stretch.
After a Richards kill brought up set points at 24-17, the Marauders converted on the second attempt when Ireland connected on a heavy kill down the line.
McMaster jumped out to an early lead in the third and chased York to a timeout after a Swan kill gave the hosts a 6-3 advantage. Accelerating from there, the Marauders forced the Lions to burn their last team timeout before the technical, and carried a 16-9 lead into that mandated break after Passalent produced an acrobatic play to bat a third contact at the edge of the stands over for a diving kill.
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There was little that the Lions could do to slow the Marauders charge to the finish line, and the hosts ended the set strongly by taking five of its final seven points and clinch with a kill from Passalent.
Locked in a battle early in the fourth, the Marauders found separation ahead of the technical timeout, and took a 16-12 lead into the break after Richards squared up Tauhid with a solo stuff.
The Lions managed to close within two points late, but a four-point run from the Marauders brought them two points from the finish line, and it was largely academic from there.
A York attacking error brought up match points, and Driediger was brought on to see out the win, ultimately tipping down the final kill of the night to provide a storybook finish to seniors day at Burridge Gym.
NEXT UP: The Marauders head out on a season-closing three-match road trip, beginning with a visit to the Gryphons in Guelph on Friday, February 15. That match is slated for first serve at 8:00 p.m. following the preceding women's match and can be seen live on OUA.tv.
