LONDON, Ont. – Coming back from a two-set deficit, the Western Mustangs defeated the Windsor Lancers 3-2 (16-25, 21-25, 25-14, 25-23, 15-11) on Friday night at Alumni Hall, marking not only a return to regular season action, but also heralded the return of the Mustangs as a force to be reckoned with on the volleyball court.
 
With the win the Mustangs hold a 6-5 record, moving them into a tie with Queen's and York for fifth place in the OUA standings, although both teams have a game in hand on Western. The Lancers fall to 4-7 on the season, directly behind the three teams tied for fifth.
 
"We walked out and didn't really fight very hard in the first set today," said assistant coach Rob Atkinson. "We thought maybe we could just play well and that [the win] would come easily, but Windsor showed up to give us a battle. We just had to get our heads around that."
 
After opening up the first set with a Mustang blocking error, the two teams mirrored each other and traded kills and errors one for one. Capitalizing on the defensive errors of the purple and white, Windsor pulled away and left the Mustangs trailing 6-10.
 
Keeping the Mustangs at an arms length and maintaining their lead, the Lancers forced the Mustangs into a timeout at 11-19, and again at 14-21.
 
Windsor quickly hammered out the remaining points, interrupted only by a kill from Chris Newcombe, and a missed serve to end the set at 16-25.
 
The Lancers again were the first up on the scoreboard, but had yet to break away from the Mustangs at 5-5.  Utilizing strong blocks the Mustangs remained tight to the Windsor score at 9-12.
 
After falling behind by four points at 12-16, the Mustangs called their first timeout of the set. Returning to the court, the Mustangs were hit with powerful attacks and consistent serving, pushing them further behind the Lancers at 14-21.
 
Unwilling to let the set escape them, the Mustangs adjusted with powerful blocks and returned to close the gap at 19-23. However, they were unable to hold off the Lancers from their last few points and the second set ended at 21-25 on a Mustang defensive error.
 
Opening up the third set with renewed vigor, the Mustangs were ahead for the first time in the match and pushed the Lancers to call a timeout at 6-1. Continuing to hammer through blocks and improving upon defensive play, the Mustangs brought the score to 13-5 and prompted a second timeout from Windsor.
 
Continuing to slam the Lancers with a series of strong attacks and an impenetrable defence, the Mustangs closed out the third set 25-14 following a blocking error from Windsor.
 
The fourth set, much like those previous, began with an exchange of points that left the teams tied at 10-10. Pulling ahead after consecutive Mustang errors, the Lancers pulled ahead at 10-12 and extended their lead to four points. Forced into a timeout at 16-20, the Mustangs struggled with the defensive holes that were exploited by the Lancers earlier in the match. 
 
Returning to the court, Justin Scapinello scored two consecutive points for the Mustangs with a kill and block to force the Lancers into a timeout of their own.
 
Seemingly unaffected by the interruption, the Mustangs quickly eradicated the point gap to tie up the match at 21-21 following another Windsor timeout. Despite being briefly stalled at 24 points, the Mustangs ended the fourth set on a kill from Gavin Taylor, clinching the set with a 25-23 score.
 
The Mustangs came out swinging in the fifth, taking a 4-1 lead and causing Windsor to call an early timeout. Despite maintaining the lead throughout the set, the Mustangs were stalled at fourteen points as the Lancers rallied to close the point gap.
 
Ending on a kill from Mike Choja, the Mustangs won the final set 15-11.
 
"We came out a little bit slow," said Scapinello - who led all players in total points on the night. "[Windsor] played awesome, they were hitting shots that we couldn't stop and something just clicked and we knew we had to fight. They stopped hitting those impossible shots and we turned it around."
 
Scapinello continues to lead the Mustangs in points, earning 22.5 throughout the five sets. Gabriel Burlacu of the Lancers followed closely behind with 19.5, with fellow Lancer Jake MacNeil just behind with 17 points.
 
The Mustangs return on Saturday, January 10, at Alumni Hall for a match against the OUA first place McMaster Marauders, who will be looking for some revenge after the Mustangs handed them their only loss of the season back in October. Game time is set for 7 p.m., and fans can watch the game live at OUA.tv.