There was nothing to be gained in the standings, with their position as the top seed in the OUA West already secured, but the Marauders worked through a road match against a challenging opponent in three encouraging sets Sunday.

McMaster completed its regular season with a 25-23, 25-16, 25-17 win over Ryerson to improve to 15-2 and conclude the schedule on a nine-match winning streak.

Including their pair of non-conference victories over Polish professional side Jastrzebski Wegiel, the Marauders have won all 11 matches played thus far in 2019.

The U SPORTS no. 4-ranked Marauders will now host an OUA quarterfinal at Burridge Gym on Saturday, March 2. McMaster welcomes the York Lions for that encounter, having bested York in four sets in the team's only previous meeting this season on February 10.

Right side Matt Passalent continued his torrid play in 2019, and led McMaster with 15 kills in the win. He accomplished that total on 35 attacks with just one error (.400) and chipped in five aces and three block assists for a total of 21.5 points.

Enjoying one of his best offensive showings of the season, left side Craig Ireland had 12 kills versus just three errors on 21 attempts Sunday (.360). He added three aces and five block assists for 17.5 points.

McMaster kept Ryerson under constant pressure through three sets, serving its way to 10 aces as a team and hitting .308 with just nine combined errors.

His team's ability to serve and provide a first pass effectively helped setter David Doty to rack up 37 assists in just three sets of work.

The home side pushed the Marauders early, sending Dave Preston and his team to a timeout trailing 13-9 in the first set after a kill by setter Greg Vukets. That lead held through the technical timeout, as the Rams appeared in command as the teams moved toward the finish line.

But from an 18-14 deficit, McMaster ripped off a 7-1 run to dramatically overhaul the set, with Passalent providing the wrecking ball in the form of the devastating spin serve and capping the run with an ace for 21-19.

A kill by Passalent brought up three set points for the visitors, and after burning through the first two, the Marauders clinched the set on the third opportunity when Andrew Richards claimed his second kill of the afternoon.

With momentum in its possession, McMaster reeled off the first four points of the second set and embarked on another, six-point run with Passalent at the line to take a commanding 11-4 lead. The lead grew to 16-7 at the technical timeout, and the Marauders had the luxury of settling for side-out volleyball from there.

A four-point run brought up a slew of set points at 24-15, and Passalent made good on the second of those with one of his 15 kills for 25-16 and a commanding two-set Marauders lead.

Seizing control in the early stages of the third, McMaster took a 12-7 lead after drawing Ryerson's star rookie Xander Ketrzynski into a triple block. One-way traffic continued into the technical timeout, where the Marauders led 16-10 after Ketrzynski missed the mark from the service line.

Mac continued to roll onward from there, and after middle Josh Ecklund brought up match points at 24-15, Passalent brought the afternoon to a close two points later with the last of his kills.

NEXT UP: The Marauders open the playoffs by playing host to the York Lions at Burridge Gym on Saturday, March 2. The 7:00 p.m. match will be webcast live on OUA.tv.