A visit to the frigid northern boundary of the OUA proved to be just what the Marauders needed to get back into the win column Saturday.

McMaster swept aside Lakehead in three quick sets, beating the Thunderwolves 25-13, 25-13 and 25-20 to open the teams' two match weekend.

With the win, the Marauders improved to 7-5 in OUA play and kept pace in the logjam behind the OUA West-leading Waterloo Warriors. Currently, three teams including McMaster, Brock and Western sit behind the Warriors, all tied with five losses to date.

Dominating play from the opening whistle, McMaster held Lakehead to a negative hitting percentage, as the Thunderwolves had 11 kills versus 13 errors on 86 attacks. By comparison, the Marauders racked up 32 kills versus 17 errors, with right side Jessie Nairn leading the way offensively.

Nairn enjoyed one of the best offensive displays of her career, hitting .409 with 12 kills and just two errors while adding an ace and a block assist for a match high 12.5 points.

Doing damage at both the service line and the net, middle Kamila Haase followed close behind with 12 points on the strength of three aces, three solo blocks, two block assists and five kills.

Setting the tone early, the Marauders jumped into an 8-1 lead in the first set when Katie Zutautas took to the service line, forcing the Thunderwolves into an early timeout and building the foundation of an eventual, lopsided set win.

That fact was confirmed at 25-13 when Haase knocked down one of her three aces on the afternoon, with her float serve pulling the Lakehead receiver down to the sideline.

A renewed presence on the block early in the second set hinted that the hosts might have more to offer the match, but Mac sped away once again on the strength of a service run, this time coming courtesy of left side Maddie Lethbridge. She tooled the Lakehead block for 14-7 and sent the hosts into a timeout on the eve of the technical, but little improved for the Thunderwolves from there.

Instead, the Marauders took the second set by an identical 25-13 score when the Thunderwolves attempted shot from the right sailed well long of the back line.

Very little changed in the third set, even while a late Thunderwolves run lent the frame a respectable score.

On their second attempt, the Marauders made good on match point, bringing the afternoon to an end when Kailan Robinson successfully squeezed a cut shot through the double block for 25-20.

NEXT UP: The Marauders rematch the Thunderwolves Sunday to complete the weekend series, with first serve due to fly at 2:00 p.m. The match can be seen live on OUA.tv.