Last year saw the Mustangs get off to a rough start to the season, as Western suffered some tough luck on their way to a 0-7 start out of the gate. But a solid finish to the season, highlighted by three wins in their final four games, showed that the Mustangs are a team to be reckoned with when they're on their game, and they'll hope to further demonstrate that this week when they head to Hamilton to kick off their 2014-15 season against the McMaster Marauders.
 
McMaster won both meetings between the two teams last season, contributing to Western's early losing streak with a 3-2 defeat in London on October 26 before shutting out the Mustangs at home to open the New Year on January 10. The Marauders would finish sixth in the OUA with a record of 13-6 while Western ended up with a 6-13 record, just missing out on the final playoff spot in the OUA West after being on the wrong side of a tie-breaker with Lakehead and Brock.
 
The Mustangs have a total of eight players returning, with Serena Smith, Laura Lytwynec, Corinne Mazurkiewicz, Candice Scott, Windemere Jarvis, Jamie Leidl, Katherine Tsiofas, and Alana Gyemi all back for another year. Western will also have a number of new faces on the squad in 2014-15, as 10 players will be joining the team for the first time.
 
Scott was one of a number of standout players for the Mustangs last year, ranking first among returning players with 167 kills in 75 sets for an average of 2.23 kills per set. She finished the season in the top 20 in the OUA with 204.5 points to earn a spot on the OUA West all-star team. Fellow returnee Sererna Smith was also solid, displaying her well-rounded game by putting up 103 kills to go along with 104 digs.
 
Sophomore Katherine Tsiofas showed a lot of promise on defence as a rookie last year, finishing with 116 digs— the highest total among returning players—while adding an team-leading total of 376 assists to finish in the top ten in that category. Her strong play was rewarded with a spot on the OUA West all-rookie team.
 
McMaster, on the other hand, will have just three new faces on the squad this year as 13 players will be returning from the 2013-14 season. One of the players who isn't returning, however, is Sophie Bukovec, who led the team in kills last season with 211 and was third in digs with 149. But the Marauders second and third best offensive players will be back this year, with both Lauren Mastroluisi and Maicee Sorensen returning in 2014.
 
Mastroluisi was second on the team in kills with 141 and attempted the second-most attacks at 421, while Sorensen was close behind with 133 kills on just 314 attacks for a team-leading percentage of .309. The team's best defensive players will also be back, as Mira Krunic and Khira Adams will both be back after registering 169 and 161 digs, respectively.
 
Game time for Friday's season opener is set for 6 p.m. at McMaster's Burridge Gym. Fans can watch all the action live via the Marauders webcast on OUA.tv.