In a showcase of the top two men's volleyball programs in the country on Friday night, the McMaster Marauders beat the Warriors in straight sets 25-23, 25-19, 29-27. 

In front of 800 boisterous fans at the PAC, the Marauders showed their worth as the No. 2 team in the country winning the game changing points throughout.  For the No. 9 Warriors, it was a case of making key errors at monumental points in the match, costing them tightly contested sets. 

The first set opened as a seesaw affair but it would be the dynamic duo of Dany Demyanenko Jimenez (Toronto) and Alexander Elliot (Cobourg) that would make the difference for the team in maroon giving them the nail-biting 25-23 set victory.

McMaster continued their momentum into the second set, leading by a five point margin throughout until Waterloo would notch five straight points thanks to strong outside hitting by Fiodar Kazhamiaka (Waterloo/) and Zachary Doherty (Goderich/), tying the set at 17-all.  Following a timeout by the visiting side, McMaster would come out firing once again, tallying six straight points to take a commanding 23-17 lead.  The two combatants would exchange the next two points before Waterloo would commit one of their 15 service errors to hand Mac the set 25-19.

The third and final set would open with the teams going point-for-point before McMaster took a 24-23 lead late into the set.  On Waterloo's serve the blocking duo of Doherty and Tyler Motherwell (Toronto/Warriors) would shut the door to even the score at 24-all.  Both squads would exchange the next six points before another service error by the black and gold would put McMaster up 28-27.  The Warriors would push the pass too far on the following reception putting them into scramble mode and they could not recover as McMaster would clinch the match 3-0 with a 29-27 final set win.

The win maintains McMaster's perfect season with a 12-0 record while Waterloo drops to 10-2 overall but remain comfortably in second spot in the OUA, four points ahead of Western.

Leading the way for McMaster was Demyanenko Jimenez and Elliot who had a 12 kills each while setter Austin Campion-Smith (Bowmanville) had 33 assists in the win.

Kazhamiaka led both teams in kills with 13 in the loss while adding five digs.  Doherty was as effecttive on the right side with 11 kills and four blocks but would like to erase the six service errors committed in the match.  Erich Woolley (New Dundee/) was a digging machine with 11 while Scott Thomson (St. Marys/) had 34 assists.

The Warriors look to bounce back tomorrow night when they host the York Lions at 8pm in the PAC.  The game can be seen live on SSN Canada.