Box Score Fans at the Burridge Gym got their first look at a radically remodelled York Lions team on Saturday, as the Marauders dealt the young Lions roster a straight-set defeat to continue their perfect start to the OUA campaign.

Set scores were 25-15, 25-22 and 25-17 in favour of the top-ranked team in the CIS, who improved to 4-0 on the season. The Lions, meanwhile, fall to 2-2, having lost two consecutive matches after opening their OUA season with a pair of wins over the Windsor Lancers and Western Mustangs.

Stephen Maar was the leading scorer for McMaster in the win, providing 15.5 points while converting 15 of 24 hitting attempts and adding a block assist. Typical of their balanced offensive approach, the Marauders had four players hit double digits in scoring, with Danny Demyanenko (13.5), Jayson McCarthy (10.5) and Andrew Richards (10) joining that club alongside Maar.

The two teams began Saturday's match neck-and-neck, but McMaster made a decisive move mid-set, building a seven-point lead at 14-7 after McCarthy successfully stuffed Tyler Covach on the right wing to bring up a York timeout. It was one-way traffic from that point on, and Demyanenko brought the set to an end with a perfectly-placed ace along the far sideline.

Play was tight yet again to begin the second set, with Mac taking a slender 16-15 lead into the technical timeout after a York service error. The Marauders built upon that lead as they barrelled toward the finish line, with McCarthy stuffing Covach yet again to give Mac a 20-17 advantage. York threatened at 21-20, but that was as close as the visitors would get, and the combination of Richards and Demyanenko stuffed Tim Jensen to seal the second for the hosts.

Building on their dominant overall lead, the Marauders grabbed an early advantage in the third, as Maar tipped smartly into space to give Mac an 8-4 cushion. Luck seemed to be going the way of the Marauders as well, as Demyanenko enjoyed the benefit of a tape ace to bring his team into the technical timeout ahead 16-9.

Mac had the set well in hand, and after Maar wiped off a block to bring up match points, McCarthy found an acute angle with the cut shot to end the Halloween match.

Having played all four of their games to this point in the friendly confines of the Burridge Gym, the Marauders will now embark on a three-match road trip, beginning with a trip to Waterloo to conclude the season series with the Warriors on Friday, November 6.