Box Score The Marauders continue to be the puzzle that no OUA team can solve.

McMaster produced a steady, three-set effort to dispatch the Western Mustangs in straight-sets at the Burridge Gym on Friday.

Set scores were 27-25, 25-23 and 25-20 for the Marauders, who remained unbeaten in the OUA this season with their fourteenth-consecutive win in conference play. The Mustangs fall to 10-3 on the season, and continue to occupy third position in the conference standings.

Danny Demyanenko led all scorers with 15 points in the win, hitting 13 kills on 18 attempts with only two errors (61.1%), winning the Marauders' Big Mac Player of the Game honours for his efforts. Stephen Maar had 14 points and nine kills, and Jori Mantha added 13 points and 11 kills on the night.

Outside hitter Garrett May paced the Mustangs with 16 points and 13 kills, but attempted 35 attacks altogether.

The two teams struggled to find their rhythm from the service line early in the opening set, but it was the Marauders who found the edge as they approached the technical timeout. Kevin Stevens continued his solid start by killing cross-court from the left side, as McMaster carried a 16-13 lead into the technical timeout in set one.

Danny Demyanenko kept that momentum firmly in McMaster's corner as he polished off the quick in the middle for 18-14, forcing the Mustangs to call time. The visitors made things interesting in the dying stages of the first, when an ace from Garrett May helped Western climb to within a point of their hosts at 22-21. The Mustangs would tie the set a few points later, forcing the first into bonus points.

But the home side was not to be denied after leading for much of the first, as Jori Mantha tooled the block on the right side to bring up a set point before a Mustang attack sailed long for 27-25.

The Mustangs, evidently stung by their narrow denial in the first, came out strongly to begin the second set, taking an 8-4 lead before the Marauders called time. Western continued to hold a slim lead at the technical, but McMaster was inching forward, and would tie the set at 19 when Demyanenko's attack from the middle went unreturned.

The Marauders continued to chip away, and took a late lead at 23-22 when the Mustangs went fishing for contact and came up empty. Alex Elliot notched a solo block on the left to bring up set point, and would polish off the second with a quick kill in the middle for 25-23.


McMaster kept hold of the momentum as the third set began, and when Mantha unloaded for a clean kill up the middle, it was 14-9 in the hosts' favour. Western stayed within striking distance, but could never fully erase the deficit, and the match came to an embarrassing end when the Mustangs allowed an overpass to find the floor for 25-20.