LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs women's volleyball team got their home schedule off to a great start on Friday night, defeating the Waterloo Warriors 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-19) at Alumni Hall. With the win, the Mustangs stand at 2-2, with the Warriors at 1-3 in the third week of OUA regular season action.
 
"We executed what we worked on all week in practice and that's something we haven't been seeing, that translation," said head coach Melissa Bartlett about her team's performance. "I think [the players] were able to seen the payoff from all their hard work this week. We executed the game plan really well and were able to rely on a lot of people to score points."
 
After a serving error from the Warriors, the Mustangs took control of the set with an early three-point lead. Capitalizing on unforced errors by Waterloo, the Mustangs used their momentum to extend their lead to 18-12.
 
Battling their way back from the six-point deficit, Waterloo focused on consistency and accuracy to force the Mustangs into a time out at 20-18.
 
Coming back out on the court refocused, the Mustangs quickly regained control, taking five of the next six points to close out the set with a 25-19 win.
 
Leading the scoreboard for the first time in the match, Waterloo took early control of the second set. Despite frequently catching up to the Waterloo score, the Mustangs struggled to surpass them for much of the second set.
 
Exceeding the Warrior score for the first time in the set at 15-14, the Mustangs began to pull away to create the first substantial point deficit of the set. Riding the momentum, Western used strong attacks and blocks to end the second set 25-18.
 
With an obvious determination to end the match in three sets, the Mustangs used a fierce offence and rigorous defensive play to create an early six-point lead. Unwilling to allow the set to end without a fight, the Warriors fought to close the point gap at 11-9, and again at 19-18.  Unfortantely for the visiting side that would be as close as things would get as Western closed out the set with four consecutive points, ending on a strategically placed tip from first year Kelsey Veltman, to take the final set 25-19 and the match 3-0.
 
With five kills, two aces, and six blocks Veltman led all players with 12 points, while Aja Gyimah and Warrior Natasha Spaling each recorded 10.5.
 
The Mustangs return to Alumni Hall on November 1, to face off against the Guelph Gryphons. Game time is set for 6 p.m.