LONDON, Ont. – After winning the first two sets, the Mustangs saw the Lakehead Thunderwolves come back from the deficit to take the game 3-2 on November 15 at Alumni Hall. 

With the loss, the Mustangs sit at 3-5 for the current season. The Thunderwolves earned their first win of the season putting them to a 1-6 record.
 
"As soon as they pushed back a little bit, we lacked the confidence to really execute at the level we did in the first set," says Coach Melissa Bartlett. "We didn't start as focused [in later sets] as we did in the first set. Against any team in our league you need to be focused all the time. That's the bottom line. You need to be focused and ready to play hard each time."
 
Opening up the scoreboard with a kill from first year Kelsey Veltman, the Mustangs quickly racked up a four-point lead that proved to be insurmountable for the Thunderwolves. Struggling with the powerful attacks coming from the Mustang end of the court, Lakehead was forced into a time-out at 9-5.
 
Extending their lead to eight points at 18-10, the Thunderwolves used their second time-out in an attempt to interrupt the Mustang momentum. Returning to the court, the two teams exchanged points before Lakehead hammered out six points to close the point gap to six points.
 
Unwilling to allow the Thunderwolves to make a comeback, the Mustangs quickly ended the set at 25-18 the same way it began, with a kill from Veltman.
 
Stepping on to the court for the second set of the match, Lakehead focused on tighter defense and avoiding blocks to take an early lead and double the Mustangs at 4-8. Adjusting to the renewed energy of the Thunderwolves, Western soon surpassed Lakehead at 9-8 to force a time out.
 
Despite tying up the score at 12-12, the Thunderwolves struggled to defend against the vicious attacks and rigorous defending from the Mustangs to fall back into a small point deficit.
 
Leading for the remainder of the set, the Mustangs closed out the second 25-22 on a block.
 
Coming back on to the court fighting to extend the match, the Thunderwolves kept the score close and surpassed the Mustangs at 4-5. Extending their lead to four points, Lakehead pushed the Mustangs into a time-out at 7-11. Finding their stride after struggling for much of the match, Lakehead extended their lead to eight points and challenged with Mustangs with a tighter defense and stronger attacks.
 
Ending on a Mustang error, Lakehead took the third set 18-25 to push the match into additional play.

Starting off the fourth set on a high note with a kill from Veltman, the Mustangs took an early lead but struggled to fend off Lakehead. Hungry for a win, the Thunderwolves surged ahead and forced Western into a time-out at 6-9. Riding the momentum, Lakehead forced the Mustangs into an eight-point deficit at 12-20 and ended the set 20-25 on a Mustang error.
 
Opening up the final set with a series of powerful attacks, the desire to win the match was evident in both teams. Unable to pull away from each other, the Mustangs and Thunderwolves traded points until serving errors by the purple and white pushed Lakehead into the lead at 6-8. Unwilling to allow the match to escape them, the Mustangs tied it up at 10-10. Exchanging points until 13-13, a service error from the Mustangs followed by a Lakehead kill ended the final set at 13-15.
 
Jen Casey, a veteran Thunderwolf, led the scoresheet with 24 points. Close behind was Veltman, a first year Mustang from Brampton, Ont., who recorded 19 points, with fourth year Serena Smith recording 14.5 points.
 
The Mustangs next face off against the University of Ottawa on Sunday, November 16 at Alumni Hall. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.