WINDSOR, Ont. – Western took an early lead in the first set and hardly slowed their momentum for the rest of the night, picking up a three set win (25-15, 25-23, 27-25) over the Windsor Lancers at the St. Denis Centre on Friday night.
 
With the win, the Mustang record improves to 3-1, while the Lancers remain winless at 0-4.
 
Zeid Hamadeh topped both sides of the scoresheet and recorded new single game highs with 14.5 points and 12 kills. Close behind was Mike Choja, who put up 13 points for the Mustangs.
 
Windsor was led by fifth year Blase Wasser, who recorded 13 points across the three sets.
 
The Mustangs wasted no time in the first set, quickly picking up an impressive 7-2 lead over the Lancers.Utilizing Choja and Chris Newcombe's height advantages to send the ball overtop of the Windsor blockers, Western continued to dominate at the net while cutting off Lancer attacks. The Mustangs continued to roll, doubling the Lancer score at 16-8.
 
Back on the floor after the technical, Windsor remained at the mercy of the Mustangs. Despite cutting down on errors, the Lancers were unable to overcome the substantial lead held by Western. Quickly running through the final points of the set, the Mustangs closed out the set at 25-15.
 
Getting up early in the second set, the Lancers held tight to their lead. Unforced errors were keeping the Mustangs down, as they were behind 6-3 early. Slowly climbing back up the scoreboard with Gavin Taylor helming the effort at the net and Seth Siegfried keeping Western competitive in the back court, the Mustangs matched Windsor's score at 8-8. Trading points and matching errors, the score was still tied at 12-12.
 
Picking up a slight edge at 13-15, Windsor held onto to the lead heading into the technical timeout at 14-16.
 
Returning to the floor Western immediately regained the serve following a Lancer error, and managed to scrape another few points off Windsor while only giving up one of their own to bring the score to 17-17. Following consecutive hall handling errors, the Lancers used their first time-out of the set at 19-18 to address the mistakes that were preventing an overtake of the purple and white score.

Using their second timeout just a few points later, Windsor again returned to the floor hoping to put the Mustang win on hold. But despite losing the serve at 24-23 following an infraction, the Mustangs were able to close out the set at 25-23 following a kill from Hamadeh.
 
Continually improving their game throughout the first and second set and picking up on Western's patterns, the Lancers best challenged the Mustangs in the third. Responsible for the first four Mustang points, Newcombe's play at the net was what kept Western above the Lancer score at 3-4. However, cycling into the backcourt and no longer able to cut off Windsor's attacks, the purple and white score began to slip as they fell behind at 6-9.
 
Outscoring their opponents with targeted attacks, the Mustangs evened the score at 10-10 to force the Lancers into withdrawing into a time-out. Back on the floor with an adjusted game plan that saw a stronger focus on covering attacks, the Lancers took six of the seven points scored after the timeout to head into the technical at 11-16. Riding their momentum as well as pulling energy from an enthusiastic crowd, Windsor remained four points ahead at 14-18.
 
Choja took back control of the game for the Mustangs with a kill that opened up  an opportunity for a point run, allowing the Mustangs to close the point difference to one at 18-19. Briefly taking the lead, and falling back into a tie at 25-25 just as quickly, the Mustangs and Lancers battled for every point. Taking a one-point advantage following a kill from Taylor, an attack error from Windsor allowed Western to take the third set 27-25 – and with it, the match.
 
The Mustangs return to the floor in the hopes of capturing a third consecutive win on Saturday, November 14 at Alumni Hall. The first set is expected to begin at 7 p.m., with live streaming available for fans at OUA.tv.