Blowing through the second set to level Friday's match, the Marauders were unable to maintain that momentum over the course of their season-opening match at Burridge Gym.

McMaster fell in the third and fourth sets to lose a 3-1 (22-25, 25-13, 14-25, 21-25) decision to the Western Mustangs on the opening night of the OUA volleyball season.

Veteran outside Jessie Nairn was the home side's top scorer on the night, with 13 kills, two aces and two solo blocks for 17 points, while Maddie Lethbridge was an efficient 12 of 25 hitting versus three errors (.360) and added an ace for 13 points.

Nairn also led the way on the defensive side, chipping in a team high 12 digs for McMaster in the loss.

Enjoying their offensive peak in the second set, McMaster hit 13 kills versus four errors on 28 attempts (.321) in the set, but settled at .192 for the match as a whole.

The Mustangs started quickly Friday, winning five of the first six points to force a timeout from Tim Louks and his group after Lexie Igguldon beat Rachel Woock from the service line.

Slowly finding their form, the Marauders closed the gap midway through the set, when Maddie Lethbridge produced an ace of her own to tie the teams at 13. Side-out volleyball prevailed through the timeout, with Mac keeping within a point of Western until a pivotal late run that tilted the set.

From 20-19, the Mustangs reeled off three consecutive points on an ace, a Marauders service error and a Carly Kimmett block to pull within two points of the finish line. Despite a late surge by Mac that saw the hosts close within one yet again, Western clinched the set at 25-22 when Woock's attack from the left found the tape.

Fortunes turned entirely in the second set, where the Marauders burst out of the break and forced the Mustangs to burn both of their team timeouts before the technical, as a rolled Lethbridge kill pulled the hosts ahead 12-4.

There were signs of life from Western late, and Louks called a timeout of his own with the lead having shrunk to nine at 20-11 after a kill from Kate Van Camp. But the deficit proved too much for the Mustangs to dig out of, and the Marauders levelled the match when Hailey Kranics came up with a block on her team's second set point opportunity for 25-13.

Momentum took another drastic turn in the third set, where a Kristina Curcin service run powered the Mustangs into a commanding lead at 13-5. The Marauders never fully recovered from that swing, trailing 16-9 at the technical timeout and only closing within five points at 19-14 before a final Mustangs run closed out the set.

That spell came with Kate Van Camp rotating to the service line, and saw Western win six consecutive points, including four Van Camp aces to lock up the overall lead.

The trend continued to open the fourth set, as Melissa Langegger knocked down a pair of early aces and the Mustangs jumped out to an 8-2 lead.

Pulling within striking distance at 12-10, the Marauders were pegged back again at the technical timeout to trail by four, and never fully recovered from there. A Van Camp attacking error pulled Mac within a point of the visitors at 21-20, and made the final stages of the fourth a shootout. But Western proceeded to win four of the next five points and seal the match on an Igguldon ace.

NEXT UP: McMaster returns to the floor at Burridge Gym to battle the Windsor Lancers Saturday, October 26 at 6:00 p.m. That match can be seen live on OUA.tv.