LONDON, Ont. – Taking control of the game as soon as they hit the floor, the Varsity Blues soared through three sets to hand the Mustangs a 0-3 loss (15-25, 16-25, 22-25).
 
The loss puts the Mustangs into a five-game losing streak to close out the first half of the season with a 4-6 record. The Varsity Blues, who have taken the last two matches on their schedule, now sit at 5-5.
 
"Toronto played well, said head coach Jim Sage. "They scrapped, and dug everything we threw at them and took advantage of every mistake. A lot of credit goes to Toronto. We had guys that didn't have a good match, and if we have that we're in trouble."
 
Middle Mike Choja led the Mustangs offense with ten points from nine kills and one solo block. Doug Austrom came in behind with six points throughout all three sets, while Seth Siegfried picked up 10 balls in the backcourt.
 
However, it was Toronto's Stefan Ristic who topped both sides of the scoresheet with 19 points from 18 kills and one block.
 
Still fired up from the previous night's four set win over Windsor, the Varsity Blues came out firing from the first serve. Immediately challenging Western at the net with strong blocks, the purple and white attackers were more tentative than usual.
 
Maintaining a slight edge at 10-12, Toronto had already put up two service aces on the board and a number of impressive blocks. As seen in earlier games, serve receive continued to be a problem spot for Western with overpasses being slammed back into the open Mustang court.
 
Forced into their second timeout of the set at 14-22, the Mustangs were unable to prevent the Blues from closing out the set just minutes later at 15-25.
 
Back on the floor for the second set, the Mustangs were visibly more engaged on the floor. Western tied the set at 8-8 after a number of momentum changes, better covering the towering Varsity Blue block and even using it to their advantage,  
 
Slowly pulling away from the Western score and evenly distributing the flow of kills, Toronto again built up an impressive lead to head into the technical up by four.
 
The Varsity Blues continued to control the pace of the match in the third. Veterans Ristic and William Colucci were the greatest offensive threats on the floor, each sending out seven kills in the second set alone. Toronto's defense was also nearly perfect, landing touches on every ball the Mustangs sent over the net.
 
"Every time we ran offense they seemed to have a guy right where we would hit the ball," said Evan Cranshaw. "Their defense was incredibly strong, even their block was well formed and getting touches on everything to make most of our attacks free balls."
 
Rushing through the final points of the game, the Mustangs were handed a 16-25 loss.
 
The Mustang half of the court saw a few new faces in the starting lineup, as well as higher energy. Rebounding from a five-point deficit with strong attacks, Western was back within two at 10-12.
 
"As a team the guys were ready," said Choja about the third set lineup change. "We had some guys coming in as relief and they did really well in their roles. […] Evan Hammond in particular came in and played really well. He did exactly what we needed him to do, got a couple blocks late in the set and a couple kills when we needed them."
 
Despite catching themselves on the net and picking up a couple of net violations, the Mustangs rebounded to tie the set at 18s. Standing at 6-7, Choja was the greatest offensive asset in the comeback as he easily found his way around the imposing Toronto block.
 
Rallies were not only longer but also devoid of the errors that had previously put both teams in sticky situations, and they rose in intensity as both teams hit the 20-point mark,
 
Unfortunately, the Varsity Blue momentum that had been building throughout the previous sets couldn't be slowed. Ristic slammed out three final points, supplemented by Western errors, to close out the third set at 22-25.  
 
"We had trouble limiting our own errors," said Choja. "A lot of errors happened from the service line, and a blocking perspective that need to change going forward if we're going to be successful at all in the second half."
 
For Cranshaw, the greatest flaw in the purple and white game was in the backcourt.
 
"We need to get our defense going," he noted. "We didn't pick up even half as many balls as they did, our block wasn't as well formed as theirs was."
 
The Mustangs have a clear schedule until January, when they'll head to Toronto for the annual York Excalibur Volleyball Classic. In preparation for the second half of the season, the team will take a break before ramping back up.
 
"We're going to take a break and get away from volleyball," said Sage. "Focus in on school and then gear it up again for the second half to see what we can do. We're going to have to win some big games and ty to fight ourselves back into a playoff spot."