WATERLOO, Ont. – After two back-to-back losses ended their perfect start to the season, the Mustangs got back on the winning track on Saturday night, taking down the Waterloo Warriors in four sets (25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 25-11) at the PAC Gym.
 
Western's record improves to 5-2 following the win and the Mustangs remain in second place in the OUA West, while Waterloo falls to 3-5 on the year.
 
Once again Aja Gyimah topped the purple and white side of the scoresheet with 15 points, while veteran Serena Smith was close behind with with 14.
 
Waterloo's Alyson Colpitts led all players with 17.5 points. Her strong attack – resulting in 16 kills – kept the Mustang defence moving all match.
 
Opening up the set with an exchange of unforced errors, the Warriors quickly picked up two-point lead. With the Warriors playing tight defence, the Mustangs struggled to take points on kills, instead relying on blocking and errors on the Waterloo end of the floor.
 
However, just as quickly as the Warriors took the lead, they fell back behind. Smith and Gyimah found holes in the Waterloo defence to bring the score to 7-6. The Warriors quickly returned the favour, pumping out a series of attacks that had the Mustangs into the stands to keep play alive and sending towering blocks to trip up the purple and white offence.  
 
Momentum would shift yet again late in the set, with the Mustangs first to hit 20 and sporting a three-point lead. Holding onto the lead, the Mustangs closed out the set at 25-22.
 
The Warriors again started off with an early lead in the second, with Emily Ibbotson dominating at the net both in blocking and attacking. Down 3-8, unforced errors plagued the Mustangs as balls hit the antenna or behind the base line more often than in the Waterloo court.
 
Continuing to roll into the technical, the Warriors had a six-point lead returning to the floor.
 
With the six-point difference still in effect as the Warriors hit 20, the purple and white struggled with the variety of tough serves being sent out from the Waterloo end of the court. Mixing it up with floaters and spin, each server kept the Mustangs on their toes and unable to predict what would be coming their way en route to handing the Mustangs an 18-25 set loss.
 
The third set saw increased levels of play from both teams, with Waterloo and Western matching efforts on the floor to tie at 7-7, and again at 12-12.
 
Battling for every point, the two-point lead held by the Mustangs at the technical was quickly eroded and replaced with a Warriors lead following a 5-0 run that included purple and white errors in the attack and serve and two serve aces from Ibbotson. 
 
Sliding back into the point-for-point pattern seen earlier in the set, rallies extended as players managed to cover the entire floor and make impressive plays to keep the ball live.
 
Sporting matching scores at 23-23, the Mustangs landed a quick two points to close out the third set at 25-23.
 
The momentum carried over into the fourth, with Western going up 8-3 early on before taking a nine-point lead into the technical timeout. The Mustangs opened up their largest lead of the match at 19-8 before easing off the gas and allowing Waterloo to slighty cut the Western lead and force the visitors into a timeout.
 
Returning to the floor with renewed drive, Western threw the Waterloo offence into disarray to close out the final set with a 25-11 victory.
 
The Mustangs are back in action next weekend at Alumni Hall against the Brock Badgers before taking to the road to see the Windsor Lancers in the St. Denis Centre.