Box Score The Waterloo men's volleyball team opened their season on the road against the No. 1 team in the country, McMaster Marauders and pushed the hard-hitting squad to the brink, eventually falling in five sets.

What looked like a breezy season opener for Mac, quickly turned into a slugfest on Friday, as the Marauders saw a two-set lead evaporate before recovering to the defeat the Waterloo Warriors 3-2 (25-17, 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 15-8) at the Burridge Gym.

Veteran outside hitter Stephen Maar put together a dominant offensive match, racking up 25 kills on 45 attempts versus six errors (.422) while adding three blocks and an ace.

Waterloo was led by Aidan Simone (London), who scored 14.5 points including 12 kills, two aces and a block assists.  Braden Cok (Waterloo) was the second best point getter for the Warriors with 10 kills.

A blistering start to the first set saw Mac win seven of the first eight points, a lead they would build on as they raced to the technical timeout. While the Warriors managed to make a set of it — with their offence beginning to click — the home side took the overall lead when Andrew Richards put a cut shot to the floor for 25-17.

The improved Warriors hung with the Marauders for much of the second set, before a mid-set run put the hosts out front. McMaster led 16-12 at the technical timeout, and after inserting Richards back into the lineup, went on a 7-2 run to reach the finish line at 25-19.

Errors snuck into the Marauders game in set three, and the Warriors forced a timeout from the hosts when they took a 12-10 lead. Playing stout defence and out-dueling Mac at the net, Waterloo sent their opponents back to the huddle after a Jordan McConkey (Stratford) block of Danny Demyanenko gave them a 20-16 lead. With the help of Maar's ferocious hitting, Mac drew level at 23, but two consecutive errors sealed the set for Waterloo.

Momentum stayed firmly in the Warriors corner in set four, and they once again forced a timeout when a McMaster dig went wayward for 11-6. The Marauders slowly ate into the Warriors lead as the set progressed, and were within two points when the visitors called time at 21-19. But, in keeping with the theme of the set, an error cost the Marauders as a serve on game point found the net to bring up a fifth and deciding frame.

They saw their lead disappear, but the Marauders responded strongly in fifth, winning four of the first five points of the shortened set and forcing a timeout when Maar won the joust for 4-1. Controversy struck at the chang over, when the Warriors felt they had successfully a ball ruled dead that gave Mac an 8-5 lead. That was all the advantage that the Marauders needed, and they went on a 7-3 run to seal the match when a Waterloo attack sailed long.

Gibson Graham (Markham) finished with 33 assists for the Warriors while Erich Woolley (New Dundee), playing in his final year with the Warriors, had 11 digs.

Waterloo will have the rest of the week off before playing a pair of home games next weekend including their home opener on Friday night against York.  Waterloo will look for revenge against the Lions, who eliminated the black and gold from nationals last year in a 5-set match in Saskatoon.  Game time is set for 7pm at the PAC with the game streaming live on OUA.tv.