Facing stiff opposition to open the night in Waterloo, the Marauders leaned on their stars early as they worked their way ahead Saturday.
The veteran duo of Andrew Richards and Matt Passalent ended the night as the match's co-leaders with 16 kills apiece, as McMaster weathered two tough sets before emerging victorious in four (28-26, 21-25, 25-19, 25-17).
With the win, the U SPORTS no. 5-ranked Marauders improved to 10-2 in OUA play, maintaining their hold on the top spot in the OUA West division in the process.
Richards and Passalent dominated the scoresheet for McMaster, with final totals of 20.5 and 19.5 points respectively. Adding four aces to his 16 kills, Richards also notched a block assist while hitting .382 with just three errors on the night. For his part, Passalent hit .353 and had two aces, one solo block and one block assist.
Displaying his usual efficiency in the setter's role, David Doty racked up 44 assists over the course of the four-set match.
McMaster fell behind late in a back-and-forth first set, and faced a pair of set points at 24-22 that Passalent and middle Bennett Swan successfully saved with kills. Two more Waterloo set points came and went in the opener, before Mac got a look at one of their own at 27-26, and Connor Santoniduly answered the call by planting an ace beyond the reach of Warriors libero Waylon Chen.
Edging another close set at the technical timeout, after Richards fired down a cross court kill for 16-15, the Marauders quickly saw that advantage disappear after the break. The Warriors created five set points at 24-19, and after watching two more pass them by, the hosts sealed the second when Matt Mawdsley pawed a tip off the block through the middle for 25-21.
McMaster recovered quickly in the third, and held a 16-13 lead at the technical timeout after Passalent thumped down an ace. Unable to claw their way back into the set, the Warriors watched as Bennett Swan killed through the middle to bring up set points at 24-21, and Passalent painted the back line with another ace to take it on the first attempt.
With the overall lead in tow, the Marauders accelerated to the finish line from there, ripping off a 9-1 run early in the fourth to grab a commanding lead. After carrying a nine-point advantage into the technical timeout, it was a matter of playing side-out volleyball to the finish line, as Mac clinched the four-set triumph.
NEXT UP: McMaster returns home to Burridge Gym for the final home matches of the regular season, welcoming the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday, February 9 and Sunday, February 10. Both matches are scheduled to get underway at 3:00 p.m. and can be seen live on OUA.tv.
