The Marauders appear to be finding their feet, the deeper they get into their OUA campaign, and they take another step forward on Friday when the Waterloo Warriors visit the Burridge Gym.

Since suffering a season-opening loss to the Western Mustangs, the Marauders have reeled off five consecutive victories and dropped just a single set in the process, which they conceded to the York Lions in a 3-1 win a week ago.

The streak has catapulted McMaster back into a familiar spot atop the OUA standings, having played one more game than the one-loss Guelph Gryphons and Mustangs. Their next challenge in remaining there comes in the form of a new-look Warriors squad that has struggled to reach the heights of their forebears so far in 2014.

Waterloo saw several key players graduate from the team that reached last season's Final Four before bowing out to Western. Among those is setter Scott Thomson, outsides Aleks Poldma and James Evans and middle Tyler Motherwell. What remains in 2014 is a young roster with just one guaranteed graduate in middle Jordan Dyck and three fourth-year seniors.

That group has made short work of lesser opponents through five matches, but has struggled to compete with the conference's contenders, losing matches to the veteran-laden Lions and the Mustangs thus far. Their 3-2 record places Waterloo squarely in the middle of the OUA pack, as they currently sit fifth.

In the absence of the aforementioned graduates, Waterloo is very much the team of fourth-year right side Zach Doherty, who leads the Warriors handily with 143 hitting attempts through five matches. Doherty has positioned himself as one of the leading hitters in the conference, and currently sits fourth in total kills (64) and fifth in kills per set (3.56) in the OUA.

Second-year left side Aaron Wiersma stands opposite Doherty on the wings, while the middle duo of the veteran Dyck and second-year Jordan McConkey are the two leading blockers in the conference. It may be a diminished lineup from the one that took the conference by storm a year ago, but Waterloo remains a force to be reckoned with.

Meanwhile, the Marauders enter play on Friday riding a fantastic early showing from middle Danny Demyanenko, who is far and away the most efficient hitter in the country at the moment. The third-year middle is hitting a blistering .652 through six matches, with McConkey his nearest competition at .536. Demyanenko sits second among Marauders and third in the OUA in total kills with 65, behind second-year teammate Brandon Koppers.

The young outside has made good use of extended playing time to begin the season, with fellow outside Stephen Maar out injured. After a summer stint with the Canadian junior national team, Koppers has emerged as McMaster's high-usage option on the outside, and leads the Marauders with 124 attempts through six matches. Third-year Jayson McCarthy is not far behind, and the two have formed the most common combination on the wings with veteran Jori Mantha fighting through injury.

That offensive platoon has proved difficult for OUA opponents to deal with, and Waterloo will have to rely heavily on their OUA-best blocking if they are to get past McMaster on Friday.

Their attempt to do just that begins at 8:00 p.m. at the Burridge Gym, at the conclusion of the preceding women's match. McMaster students can get in free if they wear maroon and bring their student card. If you can't make it to the gym, you can catch all of the action live on OUA.tv.

The usual commentary team of Alex Pocrnick and Fraser Caldwell will have the call.