LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs defeated the Laurier Goldenhawks 3-0 Friday night at Alumni Hall in the first of two games this weekend.  

Set scores were 25-14, 25-22 and 25-20.

The first set was all blocks for Western. Leading 8-4 at the first technical timeout, Laurier just couldn’t find a spot to put the ball inside the lines. By the second technical timeout, Western led 16-7. Consistent hitting from Garrett May combined with blocks from Sean McKay and Mathieu Poulin allowed Western to take the first set 25-14.

The second set saw the Mustangs and Goldenhawks go point for point right up until the first technical timeout. Reid Halpenny and Poulin came out swinging and Payton Holliss was able to contribute in a big way as he was subbed in near the end of the set. Despite being outplayed by Laurier in the second set, it was ultimately May’s crosscourt hit that put the Mustangs ahead 2-0 with a set score of 25-17.

Great rallies and smart plays in the third set resulted in a lot of back and forth. Laurier put up some big blocks, but Western was the better team. Phil James was stellar offensively finding the holes on Laurier’s court. May and Poulin each had four kills in Western’s 31 total attacks in the third set. The Mustangs took the third and final set 25-20.

Players of the game were McKay for the Mustangs and middle hitter Kevin Rowe for the Goldenhawks.

The Western Mustangs improve to 16-2 with the win and maintain first place in the OUA West and sixth in the CIS. They will face the Waterloo Warriors in the last regular season home game on Feb. 5 at 6 p.m.