LONDON, Ont. – Looking for redemption after the Western Mustangs handed them their only defeat of the season back in October, the McMaster Marauders avenged their early season loss and defeated the Mustangs in three sets (11-25, 21-25, 14-25) on Saturday night at Alumni Hall.
 
With the loss, the Mustangs remain in sixth place in the OUA with a 6-6 record, while the Marauders maintain their spot in first with a 10-1 mark.
 
"I'm a little disappointed that we didn't put up more of a fight," said Mustangs head coach Jim Sage.
 
"We're the only team to beat [McMaster] this year, so we knew they were going to come out with a lot of push, and they did. They execute very well. As soon as you make three errors you're in big trouble because that's so hard to come back from. They struggled a little in the second set, but then they were right back in it."
 
The Mustangs were the first up on the scoreboard, opening up the match with a triple block to half the Marauder attack. Despite taking the first points of the set McMaster soon caught up with the score at 5-5 and proceeded to push the Mustangs into a three-point deficit.
 
A series of consecutive kills allowed the Marauders to extend their lead by eight points at 11-19.
 
Despite an energetic defence that saw the Mustangs running and diving to save every ball and extend play, Western was unable to combat the strength of McMaster at the net.
 
With a double block from Brandon Koppers and Alex Elliot, the Marauders took the first set 11-25.  
 
Chris Newcombe earned the first point of the second set with a powerful block that sent the Marauders reeling and unable to salvage the point.
 
The Mustangs struggled to defend against the onslaught of attacks coming from McMaster, who had totaled 14 kills in the earlier set.
 
Utilizing the consistent serving of Doug Austrom, the Mustangs rallied to pull themselves back into the set after a five point deficit and brought the score to 20-21. However, the Mustangs continued to struggle with the power of McMaster at the net, as the second set ended at 21-25 on a block from Stephen Maar.
 
The third set opened up with an exchange of points, with the Marauders having more difficultly keeping the Mustang score low. Trailing behind McMaster by only one point at 5-6, Western focused on strategically placing attacks as opposed to putting speed onto every hit.
 
Retaliating by putting more energy into their defence and closing holes, the Marauders had the Mustangs doubled at 9-18, and again at 11-22.
 
The third and final set ended on a kill from the Marauders at 14-25.
 
"It's hard going up against one of the toughest teams in the country," said third-year Mustang Mike Choja. "To come out against them is really a test to see where we need to be by the end of the season, it's a good benchmark that way. We're just looking forward right now, we've got Toronto on Friday coming up and a good week of practice ahead of us."
 
The Mustangs return to the court on Friday, January 16, at Alumni Hall to face off against the Toronto Varsity Blues, followed by another home game on Saturday against Ryerson. Both games are set to begin at 8 p.m. and can be watched live on OUA.tv.