The Western Mustangs men’s volleyball team kicked off their 2012-2013 OUA season last weekend in Toronto playing the Toronto Varsity Blues and the Ryerson Rams. The Mustangs had a successful start to their season dominating the Blues taking them in three sets (25-17, 25-13, 25-16). Western was led by Justin Scapinello who finished with nine kills on 19 attempts and a game high of 14.5 points. The Mustangs won another straight sets victory on Saturday defeating Ryerson three sets (28-26, 25-14, 25-20). Powerhouse Garrett May led the team with 17 kills on 37 attempts and 18 points in only three sets.
 
Western enters its home opening weekend with a perfect 2-0 record ready to challenge Waterloo and Guelph. The Mustangs last met Waterloo in the 2011-2012 OUA semi-finals where they took the Warriors in three straight sets. Western then follows up with a match against Guelph on Saturday to close out the weekend.
 
Waterloo Warriors- Friday, November 2 8:00 p.m.
 
The 2011-2012 season saw a rough start for Waterloo with a record of only 4-5 for the first half of the season. In the latter half of the campaign, Waterloo showed the OUA what a ‘Warrior’ really is going 7-2 and making it to the OUA Semi-Finals before falling to Western.
 
The Warriors have a veteran squad this season waving goodbye to only one, Second-Team OUA All-Star Camerson Wheelan, a key starter for the Warriors. The team welcomes back 14 veteran players including 2012 First-Team All-Star Fiodar Kazhamiaka. Kazhamiaka finished seventh in the OUA with 186 kills in 60 sets and an average of 3.10 kills per set continuing his rookie legacy from the 2010-2011 season, in which he was an OUA Second-Team All-Star and a member of both the OUA and CIS All-Rookie team. Zachary Doherty, a 6-foot-5 outside will be an asset to the Warriors this season stepping back onto the court with a national gold medal under his belt with the Ontario under-20 team. Another player to watch is libero Erich Woolley saw a successful 2011-2012 campaign earning spots on the OUA All-Rookie team and the CIS All-Rookie team after collecting 130 digs in 48 sets, and finished tenth in Canada with 2.71 digs per set.
 
The Warriors started off the 2012-2013 season with a close 3-2 win over the Guelph Gryphons with Kazhamiaka earning 18 kills and five digs along with a service ace, while Doherty collected 15 kills and five blocks to earn 20 points and a 1-0 season record for Waterloo.
 
Guelph Gryphons- Saturday, November 3 7:00 p.m.
 
Coming off of a 9-9 regular season and a spot in the OUA Quarterfinals the Guelph Gryphons enter the 2012-13 looking to improve on last season’s record.
 
Guelph’s roster features many rookie players this season making it a fairly young team, but welcomes back some key veteran players while only losing one to graduation. Four time OUA All-Star Winston Rosser is back for a fifth season and is aiming to repeat the same success he had last season collecting 202 kills, 22 service aces, and 250 points, along with a second consecutive OUA First-Team All-Star spot. New recruit Luke Woud from Uxbridge, Ontario is a player look out for this season, which should be an easy feat considering the middle- blocker stands at 6-foot-9 and is expected to use his height to dominate. Guelph began their season in a five set match against Waterloo where the Gryphons fell in a close match (25-19, 19-25, 23-25, 26-24 and 13-15) to the Warriors making their season record 0-1. Despite the loss, Rosser stood out leading Guelph with 14 kills.
 
The Western Mustangs men’s volleyball home opening weekend commences Friday, November 2 at 8:00 p.m. against the Waterloo Warriors followed by a contest against Guelph on Saturday, November 3 at 7:00 p.m. in Alumni Hall.