HAMILTON, Ont. – The McMaster-Western men's volleyball rivalry added another exciting chapter on Friday night as the Mustangs came back from a two-set defcit to win a thrilling five-set contest 3-2 (19-25, 23-25, 26-24, 25-22, 15-13) over the CIS No. 2 Marauders at Burridge Gym.
 
After taking an early lead in the first set, McMaster continued to lead the scoreboard throughout the opening frame as the Mustangs struggled to respond to powerful attacks and were unable to find holes in the Marauder defence. Despite the efforts of the Mustangs, the Marauders won the set 19-25.
 
McMaster took an early three-point lead in the second set, creating a small point deficit for the Mustangs. However, the Mustangs pushed through the strong blocks thrown up by the Marauders to bring the score to 4-4.
 
McMaster and Western traded points until the Marauders began to pull ahead, bringing the score to 14-9, but the Mustangs refocused to bridge the point gap and tie the game at 17-17.
 
After a point surge by the Marauders that left the Mustangs trailing late in the set, Western began to push back with tighter defensive play and stronger blocks. Unfortunately, the Mustangs efforts were not enough to overcome the point defecit, with the second set ending 23-25.
 
Changing up the lineup for the third set, the Mustangs struggled to defend against the Marauder's attacks and fell into an early deficit. Riding the momentum from their early lead, McMaster continued to lead the scoreboard while using well-placed blocks to keep the Mustangs at bay until late in the set.
 
Bridging the point gap to only 22-21, the Mustangs continued to fight for the set and brought the set to 23-23. Going point for point, the Mustangs pulled ahead 25-24 for their first lead of the night and capitalized on a few McMaster errors to win the set 26-24.
 
Taking control of the fourth set early, the Mustangs maintained their lead until late in the set when the Marauders tied the set at 19-19 following a quick substitution. However, Western was not to be denied, and the purple and white regained the lead to win the fourth set 25-22.
 
With the stage set for an exciting fifth and final set the two sides took things down to the wire, with the Mustangs emerging with a 15-13 set victory to take the match 3-2.
 
Veteran Justin Scapinello led the scoreboard with a total 19 points from 17 kills and two service aces, while also leading the Mustangs with seven digs. Mike Choja followed closely behind with 15 points off of 11 kills along with four solo blocks, and Doug Austrom finished with 12 points with eight kills and five digs. Leading the way for the Marauders was the trio of Danny Demyaneko, Jayson McCarthy, and Brandon Koppers with 18.5, 16.5, and 15 points respectively.
 
Next up for the Mustangs is another road contest when they travel to Kingston on October 24 to take on the RMC Paladins.