WATERLOO, Ont. – Despite coming back from a two set deficit to take sets three and four, the Mustangs were unable to overpower the OUA third place Warriors at Waterloo's Physical Activities Complex on February 14. Supported by a roaring black and gold crowd, Waterloo's five set win (22-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-22, 12-15) sees them advance to the OUA Semifinals, while the Mustangs season comes to a close.
 
Second year Mustang Gavin Taylor was the first on the court to earn a point, sending out a powerful kill to open up the match. Doug Austrom followed up with a kill of his own to give Western an early advantage. The early purple and white lead did not deter the Warriors, who had caught up to the Mustang score and quickly reversed the two point lead at 3-5. Waterloo called the first timeout of the night after the Mustangs raced through a four-point deficit – led by Chris Newcombe's blocking – to surpass the Warriors at 12-11. Returning to the floor the teams exchanged points, unable to break out of the one-for-one pattern. At 20-20, the teams remained locked together. The set closed out with a five point run from Waterloo, finalizing the score at 22-25 on a purple and white attack error.
 
Waterloo had the upper hand early in the second set at 3-5 following multiple unforced errors from the Mustangs. Maintaining their lead, the Warriors had more than doubled the Western score at 5-13. Waterloo would continue their lead, going on to take the set 16-25.
 
The third set opened up with Western trading points with Waterloo, with the score still tied at 9-9. A three-point advantage for the Mustangs was in effect at the technical timeout, and coming back to the court, Newcombe ensured to keep the purple and white momentum rolling by sending a kill deep in the Warrior court.
 
As the Mustang lead was shaved down to two points at 18-16, Coach Sage called a precautionary timeout. The Warriors, unwilling to give up the set, pushed themselves to match the Mustangs at 23 points. However, their surge of momentum wasn't enough to prevent Western from closing out the set at 25-23 with a kill from Justin Scapinello and a subsequent Warrior attack error.
 
The Warriors may have earned the first point of the fourth set, but it was the Mustangs who had the lead at 6-2. Waterloo's Jordan Dyck led the charge to close the point gap, reducing Western's lead down to one point at 15-14. Taking the lead at 17-19, Waterloo forced the Mustangs into a timeout. Desperate to extend the match by one more set, the Mustangs closed the gap at 20-20 and would go on to take the fourth set 25-22 and extend the match.
 
Waterloo started off the race to 15 with a modest two-point lead, but the Mustangs soon caught up. A back-and-forth set, the Mustangs then took a two-point lead before being pushed back into a deficit by the Warriors at 6-8. Despite matching the black and gold score at 9-9 the Mustangs were unable to stop the advance of the Warriors, and would lose the final set of the match 12-15.
 
In his last match as a Mustang, Scapinello led both teams in total points. The 6'3 product of London recorded 24 points from 21 kills, one service ace, one solo block, and two assisted blocks. Topping the scoresheet for Waterloo was Zachary Doherty, who earned 22.5 across five sets.