LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs men’s volleyball team advanced to the OUA Final Four and a semifinal match with Queen's after a convincing 3-1 win over the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday Feb. 27 at Alumni Hall.
Western won the first two sets 27-25 and 25-17 before dropping a close third set 24-26. They easily handled Waterloo in the fourth set winning 25-12.
The Mustangs head to the OUA Final Four at McMaster next weekend. They will face the second place Queen’s Gaels in the semifinal matchup on Friday March 5 at 8 p.m.
Mathieu Poulin (Winnipeg) led the attack for the Mustangs with 13 kills, 8 digs and a solo block. Mathew Waite (St. Thomas, Ont.) and Reid Halpenny (Exeter, Ont.) were right behind him with 12 and 10 kills respectively. Matthew Gibson (Oshawa, Ont.) set up the Western attack with 43 assists and also added 9 digs and a pair of solo blocks.
Each side came out playing hesitant at first and both sides were making unforced errors. Waterloo held the early advantage but the Mustangs battled back to lead 8-6. Both teams tightened up their play and traded points throughout the middle of the set until it was tied at 19 apiece. Western managed to go ahead 22-20, forcing Waterloo to call a timeout to regroup. Waterloo did calm their nerves, tying the score at 22. Western was serving for the set 24-23, but a serving error followed by a mishit ball put Waterloo in control 25-24. The Warriors could not take advantage however, and two long kill attempts later Western was back on top 26-25. Western then sealed the set 27-25 with Phil James (Ottawa) getting the block at the net .
With Western event staff handing out inflatable clappers, and a 1-0 lead on their hands the Mustang faithful got noticeably louder in the second set. Each side continued to trade points and Western held a slight 10-9 advantage when Waterloo called their first timeout. The Mustangs managed to extend the lead slightly to 16-12. The Mustangs were all playing well late in the second set, holding a 22-16 advantage and then finishing off the set 25-17 to take a 2-0 lead.
Waterloo came out in the third set playing well, trying to extend the game and held a 10-6 lead over the Mustangs. The Mustangs still had the momentum and the home crowd behind them and came back to tie the score at 13 each. The teams traded points throughout Waterloo moving into a slight 20-19 advantage late in the set. Waterloo called a timeout once the Mustangs had tied it up at 22-22. Waterloo was serving for the set with a 24-23 lead, but a great kill by Halpenny tied it at 24. Two nice plays by Waterloo stole the set 26-24.
The Mustangs came out in the fourth set not wanting to extend this game any further jumping out to an early 5-0 lead. Western continued to dominate the set early with Waterloo calling a timeout once the Mustangs lead got to 11-2. Western held total control and went into the second break with a 16-3 advantage. The Warriors showed some heart in trying to cut into their deficit and cut Western’s lead to 18-9. The onslaught of the Western attack proved to be too much in the end and the Mustangs took the fourth set 25-12.
