Box Score They've won nine matches on the trot, and yet the Marauders believe that they're only getting started this season. The latest victims were the CIS no. 8-ranked Guelph Gryphons, who the Marauders swept on Saturday in their final match of the semester.

The second seed in the nation, McMaster stand at 9-1 through the first half of their OUA campaign, and have won 27 of 28 sets played since their opening night upset loss at the hands of the Western Mustangs.

Guelph, meanwhile, drop to 7-4 and fall behind the Ryerson Rams and into third place in the conference standings entering the holidays.

Third-year middle Danny Demyanenko led the way for the Marauders as he has so often this season, scoring 14.5 points on 10-15 hitting versus three errors (.467) with an ace and three and a half blocks. Jayson McCarthy also hit double digits with nine kills and three and a half blocks for 12.5 points.

The two teams were inseparable early in the opening set, before McMaster reeled off six consecutive points from a 10-10 impasse to take a lead into the technical timeout. That was all the advantage that the Marauders needed, as they rode a second run to the finish line, winning five of the set's last six points.

Guelph proved resilient in the second set, and led 16-15 at the technical timeout when a Demyanenko service error brought the teams into the break. But with Brandon Koppers at the service line, the Marauders embarked on a seven-point run to overhaul the deficit and pull within two points of the limit at 23-18. It was a lethal period of play, and McMaster sealed it when Guelph's Zach Newman committed a service error on set point.

That was the watershed moment, as McMaster followed by taking seven of the first eight points of the third set and forcing Guelph into the chase. The Gryphons worked their way back into the set, and trailed by as little as a point at 18-17, but could never overhaul the deficit entirely.

Having completed the first half of their OUA season, the Marauders will now travel to St. Petersburg, Florida to compete in the Alden Cup, beginning on January 1st.