The Nipissing Lakers men's volleyball team is proving they can compete with the top teams in the OUA, as the program strives to become a perennial powerhouse.

They had a setback Saturday, however, falling to the powerful McMaster Marauders 3-1 in a hard-hitting, physical match at the Surtees Athletic Centre.

McMaster grabbed the first set thanks to a 25-21 win which came as a result of a quick start.

The Lakers trailed 9-7 early and were down 16-9 at the technical timeout in the opening game.

Nipissing closed the gap to four points – down 22-18 – but they couldn't climb all the way, eventually losing by four.

Once again, the Lakers trailed at the technical timeout, however, fought back to tie the set 24-24 before pulling out the final two points to claim the set and even up the match.

With the match tied 1-1, McMaster grabbed a 16-10 lead at the break in the third set.

McMaster then pushed the lead to seven, 22-15, late in the set and sealed the win to go up 2-1.

Once again, the Marauders held a lead at the technical timeout, up 16-13, before extending their advantage to 20-14.

Their six points lead resulted in a 25-19 victory in the fourth set.

All four sets were within seven points, with two being just four and two point differences, as McMaster claimed the win.

Liam Ludlow led the Lakers attack with 14 points, Jackson Young added 10 and Randy Beauchamp chipped in with 7.5 in today's match.

Nipissing is back in action Sunday afternoon at 2pm when they host the Brock Badgers to wrap up the weekend.