LONDON, Ont. – Returning to the court for their first regular season match after the break, the Western Mustangs fell to the McMaster Marauders in a hard fought five set (25-17, 12-25, 25-18, 28-30, 12-15) matchup on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall.
 
With the loss, the Mustangs move to 3-8 on the season and sit in fifth place in the OUA West Division, while the Marauders maintain their hold on first place with an 8-3 record.
 
"It's no secret that that was our fourth or fifth straight match we've lost in a row," said Mustangs head coach Melissa Bartlett after Saturday's game. "But I think the big difference was that the feeling for that match was completely different. That was a really great team and we really pushed them. There were way more positives than negatives in that match, it's about going forward and I think we can expect to see a different team in the second half [of the season]."
 
Wasting no time, both teams pulled out powerful attacks and kills early on in the opening set. The Mustangs, searching for holes in the Marauder blocks while throwing up strong ones of their own, pulled ahead and had McMaster's score doubled at 8-4.
 
The Marauders, struggling to combat the purple and white's net play, were forced into their first timeout of the set at 14-9. Undeterred by the interruption, the Mustangs returned to the court and continued to hammer out rapid attacks that left McMaster floundering.
 
Although the Marauders were able to stall the Mustangs at 23 points momentarily, Western ultimately took the first set 25-17 on a McMaster error.
 
The second set opened up with an exchange of points that left the score tied at 5-5. The Marauders, exploiting the defensive holes that helped them defeat the Mustangs in their OUA regular opener in October, pushed the Mustangs into a five-point deficit at 8-13 as well as a timeout.
 
McMaster continued to control the set, with the Mustangs falling nine points behind at 11-20. The Marauders ended the set with a quick five points, being stalled only once by the Mustangs to bring the score to 12-25.
 
The Mauraders Maicee Sorenson opened up the third set with a kill and two consecutive aces to put McMaster at an early three-point advantage. The Mustangs retaliated with a series of tall blocks and kills of their own to tie the set at 4-4.
 
Tightening up their defensive play, the Mustangs took the lead and forced McMaster into a timeout at 10-6, and again at 15-7.
 
Returning to the court the Marauders clawed their way up to reduce their point deficit to two points at 19-17 and force the Mustangs into a timeout.
 
Despite the best efforts of the Marauders, Western won the third set 25-18 following a series of lengthy rallies.
 
The Marauders again took an early three-point lead at the start of the fourth, but were unable to keep the Mustangs off their tail as the set was soon tied at 5-5, resulting in a McMaster timeout. 
 
Western came back to the court and hammered out three consecutive points to take the lead, however McMaster responded with a point run of their own to overtake the Mustangs at 8-9. An exchange of points evened up the score at 12-12, and again at 14-14.  The teams continued to match each other point for point until the Marauders began to pull away at 18-20 following Mustang errors.
 
The Mustangs were unwilling to allow the set to escape them, and soon had the Marauders matched at 22-22, and again at 24-24.
 
After trading points, McMaster took the advantage on a block from Taylor Brisebios and Rebecca Steckle. The set ended at 28-30, with Brisbois finishing things off with an ace to force a fifth set.
 
Earning the first points of the set and quickly establishing a five-point lead at 1-6, the Marauders returned to the court refreshed and ready to play. Rigorous defence by McMaster kept the previously successful attacks from the Mustangs at bay and forced a purple and white timeout at 4-9.
 
Fighting their way back, the Mustangs returned the favor by forcing a McMaster timeout at 8-9, before tying the score at 11-11.
 
Unfortunately, for the Mustangs the OUA West Division leaders scored four of the last five points to hand the purple and white a 12-15 set loss.  
 
"We played great," said starting right side hitter Aja Gyimah. "Everybody on the court was putting everything into it, everyone on the bench was putting everything into it. We stayed aggressive until the very end, and unfortunately we didn't win but I though it was really good energy out there."
 
First year Mustang Gyimah topped the scoresheet for both teams, earning 23 points across the five sets. Kelsey Veltman followed closely behind with 19 points, while Taylor Brisebois contributed 18.5 for the Marauders.
 
The Mustangs are back in action next weekend with home games against Toronto and Ryerson. Friday will see the Mustangs face off against the Varsity Blues at 6 p.m., with Saturday's match against the Rams also set for a 6 p.m. start. Fans can watch all the action live on OUA.tv.