Faced with a vastly improved performance from their opponents on the second day of a weekend series, the Marauders were forced to dig in to find a victory Sunday.

McMaster navigated a 20-kill performance from Lakehead's Rheanna Geisel and the loss of the fourth set, coming out with the five-set win 25-13, 20-25, 25-10, 21-25, 15-12.

Reprising her role as Mac's leading scorer yet again, Jessie Nairn had 13 kills, three aces and three solo blocks in the win, including the decisive kill on match point.

Left side Rachel Woock returned to the lineup after sitting out Saturday's win to record 11 kills and just two errors on 33 attempts (.273), while Kailan Robinson also hit double digits in the kill column with 10.

Putting her defensive stamp on the contest, libero Zoe Mackintosh racked up 26 digs, and reached a season total of 196 that sits second in the OUA.

The match see-sawed wildly from set to set, with McMaster enjoying its peak offensive success in the lopsided third, where the Marauders hit 11 kills without an error.

That set suggested that the visitors might speed to the finish line Sunday, but that was not to be, as Lakehead defended stoutly in both the front and back court to grind out a 25-21 win in the fourth.

There was nothing between the teams early in set five, until the Marauders found separation after the changeover and brought up four match points at 15-11. They needed just two of those to close the afternoon, doing so when Nairn carved a heavy shot to the back line for an uncontested kill.

NEXT UP: McMaster remains on the road on Saturday, February 2, as the Marauders travel to Waterloo to take on the OUA West-leading Warriors. That match will get underway at 6:00 p.m. and be webcast live on OUA.tv.