HAMILTON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs women's volleyball team opened their regular season schedule on Friday night with a loss to the defending OUA champions the McMaster Marauders, falling in three sets (17-25, 20-25, 16-25).
 
The Marauders took an early lead in the first set with powerful kills from Joanna Jedrzejewska, coupled with multiple service aces and a strong defensive play. Despite hustling by first year libero Courtney Sestric, who totaled 4 digs, and rookie Kelsey Veltman's three kills, the Mustangs were unable to overcome the point deficit.
 
The hard fought first set ended 25-17 in favour of the Marauders after a series of service runs and resilient defense by McMaster.
 
Fighting to gain control of the play, the Marauders and Mustangs traded points early on in the second set, each unwilling to allow a substantial deficit. Despite efforts by the Mustangs, McMaster began to pull away after Jedrzejewska began a lengthy serving run. Later in the set fourth-year Mustang Laura Lytwynec attempted to close the gap with a serving run of her own, but Western was unable to maintain momentum, as McMaster claimed a 25-20 set win.
 
After losing the first point on a deep serve, the Mustangs got off to a slow start in the third set as McMaster took an early four-point lead.  Unwilling to allow the Marauders to increase the lead, Western pushed back to close the point deficit to only two points. However, after trading points with missed serves and blocked shots, McMaster responded with a serving streak and a series of kills to bring the score to 14-8 before eventually taking the final set 25-16.
 
Mauraders Jedrzejewska and Taylor Brisebois topped the scoresheet, earning 14.5 and 10 points respectively, while Taylor Beedie and Veltman each recorded nine points for the Mustangs, with rookie Sestric recording a game-high 11 digs.
 
The Mustangs next travel to Kingston to face off against RMC on October 24.