Mustangs suffer second loss of the season to Brock 3-0

London, ON –  The Mustangs Women’s Volleyball team suffered their first straight-set loss of the season as the Brock Badgers opened the weekend set with Western with a 3-0 win on Friday night.”After a loss, you tend to overanalyze everything, and I think what we decided is we didn’t execute the game plan against a very good team,” said Mustangs Head Coach Melissa Bartlett “we’re glad we get another opportunity to play them tomorrow.”The opening half of the first set was extremely tight, with neither side getting more than a two-point lead. Brock went on a run starting 4-0 run from 16-15 to 19-15, but the Mustangs responded with a pair of powerful points, including a thundering kill from Claire Stewart to push the score to 19-17. After Brock extended their lead to 21-17, Western was forced to call a timeout. The Badgers would come out of the break with a 4-1 run and take the opening set 25-18.The Badgers continued their momentum into the start of the second set, after both sides split the opening four points, Brock 6-1 run to take an 8-3 lead and force Western to call a timeout. The Mustangs would battle back and found themselves within two points later in the set at 18-16. Brock would show their power, closing out the set with a 5-1 run and win the set 25-19, taking a 2-0 advantage in the match.The third set would open with a Mustangs point after the Badger committed a service error. After both sides exchanged points, Western would open up one of their largest leads of the night with a four-point cushion at 7-3, forcing Brock to take a timeout. As the set moved along towards the midway point, the score would tighten up with both sides tied at 13-13. Brock would pull out another second-half surge, including a 7-1 run, opening up a 20-15 lead. The Badger would finish strong again and take the match victory with a 25-20 win.”These matches and really our next four matches are awesome learning opportunities for us, and they’re the types of experiences we need to be successful in the playoffs,” said Bartlett “Tomorrow’s senior day, there’s a lot of fun that comes with that and we’re looking forward to celebrating our seniors and having a slightly different crew on the court tomorrow, which will help, I think.”KEY STATSEmma Buntic – 10 kills and 2 digsClaire Stewart – 7 kills, 3 digs and 1 service aceLael Harrison – 9 digs and 4 killsNEXT GAMEThe Mustangs will take on the Badger again tomorrow (Saturday, January 25) for a 2:00 pm start. It is also the last regular season home game for the women’s team, and we will celebrate the graduating senior class of 2024 after the game.