LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs men’s volleyball team reclaimed the top spot in the OUA with its 10th straight regular season win. The Mustangs took care of the York Lions in three straight sets, 25-13, 25-6 and 26-24. With the win they improve to 12-1 on the year, with the McMaster Marauders a half game back at 12-2.
Mathew Waite (St. Thomas, Ont.) was a dominant force at the net with 14 points, including four solo and two assisted blocks. Eric Simon (London, Ont.) added four service aces to give him 30 on the year, No. 1 in the OUA.
The Mustangs started off strong in the first set and after a yellow card on York pushed the lead to 11-6, the Mustangs used the momentum to their advantage finishing the set off 25-13.
Simon kept the hot start going in the second set with back-to-back aces to lead York 4-0. After a Matthew Gibson (Oshawa, Ont.) ace pushed the lead to 13-5, York attempted to regroup by calling a time out. The Mustangs could not be cooled down though and dominated the rest of the set, going on a 12-1 run to win the set 25-6.
However, the Lions did not want to take the loss sitting down and played with a lot more energy in the third set. Each team exchanged points throughout the set with neither team holding a large lead. With the home crowd rallying behind the Mustangs they came from two points down late in the set to finish off the Lions 26-24.
Next up for the Mustangs are the Windsor Lancers on Fri. Jan 29 at Alumni Hall. Game time is 8 p.m. Students receive free admission with their Student ID card.
