London ON – After a tough loss in three sets against Brock on Friday night, the Mustangs looked to get back on track on Saturday afternoon against the Badgers.
The match began with a rocky start with Western calling a timeout when Brock moved into a 10-6 lead. The Mustangs continued to fight for points but just couldn’t quite get past the Badgers. Brock would finish the set, taking a 25-17 win.
The second set started off strong with the Mustangs right behind Brock at 10-9. Western fumbled a couple of points resulting in a timeout at 13-9. They continued to push through but ended up with errors giving the Badgers a good lead at 22-12. The Mustangs pulled through with a couple of additional points, however Brock ended the set with a 25-16 win.
The third set has a solid emergence with the Mustangs following right behind Brock. They continued with 2 service aces and a kill, making Brock take a time out at 8-4. The Mustangs kept a steady lead throughout the set but the Badgers crept up right behind them at 22-19. Western ended off the set at 25-20 with their first win this weekend, making it 2-1.
W ?? END OF 3RD SET
Mustangs power their way through the end of the set and take the win 25-20.
The fourth set saw a difficult start for Western with Brock in the lead at 8-2 making the Mustangs take a timeout. Although the Mustangs were rallying their way through the set, they still fell behind by almost half at 14-8. The Mustangs put in their best efforts, but the Badgers took the match 3-1 at 25-14.
As this was the final regular season home game for the Mustangs, as per tradition, the team recognized their graduating seniors prior to the match. This year there were four members of this year’s team who are in their graduating years and were honoured. Kylie Maxwell, Rachel Gray, Claire Stewart & Emily Tsiandoulas were honoured with a pregame ceremony that included their families being welcome on to the court while also receiving flowers and a gift from the team,
“Its great to be able to celebrate athletes that have put in years of a really big commitment, and to see them out on the floor to finish it off is a really special moment for everybody.” said Assistant Coach Stephane Vlachos
KEY STATS
Ava Ebert – 4 service aces, 6 kills & 18 total attacks
Emma Buntic – 10 kills, 30 total attacks & 4 digs
Rachel Gray – 11 kills, 10 digs & 1 service ace
NEXT GAME
Western will head out on the round for their final two weekends of regular season play, starting next Friday night (January 31) when they head to Kingston to take on the Queen’s Gales for a battle of teams with 13 wins each. Fans can watch the action on OUA.tv.