Box Score WINDSOR, Ont. – Following a weekend split against the Lakehead Thunderwolves at Alumni Hall the Western Mustangs women’s volleyball team headed south Wednesday night to take on the Windsor Lancers. The match went down to the wire with the Mustangs taking the fifth and final set 15-13 to finish out the first half of their 2012-13 schedule with a victory.
 
Stephanie Kreuter and Rebecca Oxland led the way for the Western offence, with Kruter recording 18 kills and two aces, while Oxland added 16 kills of her own. Candice Scott also impressed with 15 points and a .360 hitting percentage. Windsor’s Kalia Sequin led all players scoring 20.5 points with 19 kills and one ace.
 
The Lancers jumped out to an early lead on their home court, going up 8-3 in the beginning stages of the first set. Windsor would maintain their lead for a good portion of the set before Western battled back to tie things up at 17-17. The two teams would trade points until the Mustangs were able to put things away, with Danielle Marshall finishing things off with an ace to give Western a 26-24 set victory.
 
Western took that momentum into the second set, pulling in front with a 6-1 lead before Windsor began to claw their way back, eventually tying the set at 13 points a piece. Similar to the first set the teams with Western taking a 20-19 lead before Windsor rattled off six straight points to close out the set with a 25-20 win.
 
Undeterred by the loss in the second set Western again took an early lead in the next set, taking a 6-1 lead. It was a lead the Mustangs would not relinquish, earning a 25-17 set win on .244 hitting efficiency.
 
With a 2-1 lead the Mustangs entered the fourth set looking to close out the match, however Windsor refused to make things easy and unlike the earlier sets, neither team was able to gain a sustainable advantage in the early going. The Lancers were able to pull away late in the set ending up with a 25-20 victory to push the game to a deciding fifth set.
 
Consistent with a game that saw 20 total tie scores and eight lead changes, the final set saw the two teams trading points in the opening stages until Windsor was able to take an 11-6 lead midway through the frame. Following a timeout, the Mustangs began to storm back, going on a 8-2 run to end the game, taking the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
 
With the win the Mustangs now move to 6-4 on the season and sit in fifth place in the OUA, only four points out of first. The Lancers drop to 2-7, tied for eleventh with Waterloo and RMC.
 
Tonight’s game closes out the Mustangs first half schedule and the team now heads into the winter break. Their next game is a return matchup with the Lancers on January 11, this time on home court at Alumni Hall.