LONDON, Ont. – Coming back from a first set defeat, the Mustangs roared past the Paladins to post a 3-1 victory (24-26, 25-15, 25-15, 25-19) and improve their season record to 4-1. Picking up the loss, RMC remains winless at 0-7.
 
Third year Gavin Taylor was again the highest scoring player on the floor, recording 28.5 points on the night. Coming in second was middle Mike Choja, who picked up 12.5 points.
 
Offensively RMC was led by Blake McClelland with 14 points, and Dale Towe with 9.5.
 
"I think we underestimated them, knowing their record and having played them in the past," said starting libero Seth Siegfried. "We knew we were going to get the win, but there were a few players that we didn't expect to see and they came out a lot stronger then we thought. That's why they took the first set, they took us by surprise."
 
The Paladins came out swinging in the first set, and refused to let up. Taking the first four points of the game to build a comfortable cushion, RMC hit the court ready to fight.
 
Struggling to land a kill, four of the first five Mustang points came from attack and service errors on the part of RMC. Covering the entire floor and touching almost every ball sent over from the purple and white half of the court, the Paladin defense was difficult to beat.
 
Still leading at the technical timeout, albeit with a reduced point difference, RMC had a monopoly on momentum.
 
The set continued to be pushed along by errors, with the Mustangs posting six attack and three service errors in the first set alone. RMC recorded four attack errors, and seven service errors.
 
Closing out the set with a final purple and white error, the Paladins had won only their second set of the season at 24-26.
 
Back on the floor for the second set, and arguably woken up by the loss, the Mustangs dominated from the first point. Picking up a 7-3 lead out the gate, the purple and white lead wouldn't dip below three points for the remainder of the set.
 
Together Zeid Hamadeh and Taylor advanced the Mustang score, while Hamadeh also led the team in the backcourt.
 
Almost completely eliminating the errors that had allowed RMC to create a daunting lead in the first set, Western refused to hand out points. Hamadeh ended the set for Western at 25-15 with a final kill.
 
The third set saw a more competitive Paladin contingent, refusing to let Mustang points go unanswered with the score tied at 3-3, and still locked together at 9-9.
 
It wasn't until the 10-point mark that Western was able to break away. A five-point run brought them over the hump to the technical timeout, when they had a six-point advantage.
 
Back on the floor the Mustangs dominated at the net, sending kill after kill into the Paladin court. Earning nine points following the break – while RMC was only able to pick up an additional five – the Mustangs closed out the set at 25-15.
 
The fourth set began much like it's predecessor, with the Paladins staying tight to the purple and white scoreboard. This time, however, it wasn't until the 7-7 mark that the teams found themselves with matching scores.
 
"They never give up," noted head coach Jim Sage. "You can be beating them by whatever score, and it's like they're on the battlefield. That's how they train. It's not over until it's over, they're going to stay the course. My guys will go up and down like a rollercoaster, but RMC is pretty level headed."
 
Only briefly struggling to break away, the Mustangs were back on top a few points later at the technical timeout.
 
Returning to the court determined to close out the match in four, a number of athletes rose to the challenge. Hamadeh, Doug Austrom, Chris Newcombe and Taylor all turned it up to an 11 to breeze through the final points of the set and allow a 25-19 Mustang victory.
 
Looking forward to Sunday's matchup against Queen's, Coach Sage argues that Western will need a stronger start to compete with the Gaels.
 
"Queen's will be fired up," Sage said. "I think it'll be a great match. It's a big rivalry."