The McMaster Marauders women's volleyball team nearly went the distance but held in, taking down the Guelph Gryphons 4-1 on the road on Saturday night.
 
Despite leading the first set from start to finish, minus a two-serve stretch, the Marauders were in a back-and-forth affair for much of the opening set. Marauders left side Rebecca Maxwell put her team in a position to clinch the set, thanks to kill off an assist from Rachel Woock to make the score 24-23. The Gryphons would fault their way into giving the Marauders the final point, and the first set victory.
 
After a dominant second set, that was riddled with Gryphons errors giving the visiting Marauders a 25-13 win, a pair of nail-biting sets ensued.
 
After going up as much as 22-17 in the third set, the Gryphons railed on a five-point run to tie the score at 22-22. A pair of errors by the Marauders, followed by a service ace gave the Gryphons the set at 27-25.
 
A similar storyline took place in the fourth and final set. With the score stuck at 25-25, a pair of kills by Jessie Nairn and Marina Vesovic secured the win for the visitors.
 
Nairn led all players with 22 points, with a game-high 17 kills on 48 total attacks. Marina Vesovic was close behind, connecting on a career-high 15 kills, on an impressive .275 hitting percentage.
 
Nairn also tied a career-high in service aces with an impressive total of five.
 
Hailey Kranics was active on the defensive end contributing to four total blocks, while Nikolina Vesovic dished out 36 assists in the four set win.
 
Having now won their last four of five games, the Marauders are now tied for second in the OUA West division with the Brock Badgers and Waterloo Warriors, all with 16 points each.
 
NEXT UP: The Marauders return to the court tomorrow night, as they take on the Brock Badgers at the Bob Davis Gym for 2pm.