LONDON, Ont. – Picking up their second win of the New Year, the Mustangs took down the Guelph Gryphons in four competitive sets on Friday night at Alumni Hall.
 
The win puts Western's record at 7-6, entangling them in a three way tie for fifth place in the OUA alongside Waterloo and York. The Gryphons, now ninth in the league, sit at 4-9 for the season.
 
Zeid Hamadeh and Mike Choja share the top spot on the scoresheet, each with 14 points. Hamadeh posted 11 kills, two service aces, and two assisted blocks to reach the mark, while Choja's ten kills were supplemented with two solo and four assisted blocks.
 
"It's always nice to be rewarded [with a win] in these settings for all the hard work we put into practices and in the weight room," said Hamadeh about the victory. "Any win is definitely of huge value and significance to us."
 
The Gryphons relied on Zach Newman, who recorded 19 points throughout the night, with Josh Green following up with 11.5 points.
 
The first set was twenty-five minutes of back and forth action with Western and Guelph firmly locked into that pattern. 
 
Both teams capitalized on powerful attacks to keep rallies short and the points flowing. Western's attack was evenly dispersed, with Doug Austrom, Hamadeh, Bryn Ramsay and Evan Hammond all able to find open floor.
 
However, the Mustangs gave away a series of points to keep the score close. With two net violations and six missed serves on the books, unforced errors prevented the first set from being a clean sweep.
 
As expected, Guelph's heaviest hitters Josh Green and Zach Newman led the team offensively to each pick up three kills. The Gryphons also found success through blocking, with Green and right side Luke Would leading the effort.
 
However, it would be a Mustang block that would end the set at 26-24 after battling into additional points.
 
The game continued to be evenly matched as the teams moved into the second set. What initially appeared to be a pattern of only few points slowly extended until the second set mirrored the first.
 
While both Western and Guelph were able to take the lead throughout the set, neither was able to maintain momentum as the score was even across the board at 18.
 
As the set headed into additional points, both teams were making impressive plays that saw athletes running far beyond the constraints of the court in an attempt to keep the ball up.
 
The Gryphons were able to finally break the pattern, with a Western error putting the final nail in the coffin and bringing the set score to 24-26.
 
Guelph opened up the third set by outscoring the Mustangs 1-5 with Green continuing to serve as the primary target for setter Kyle Richards. The momentum kept rolling, until a kill from Choja brought some energy back to the Mustang end of the court.
 
"They couldn't stop Mike," said head coach Jim Sage. "Choja was on fire. Every time I'd signal to our setter to set him, and they would try to defend against it, but he still scored."
 
A few well placed blocks and a willingness to do anything to continue the play allowed the Mustangs to step out ahead and maintain their lead throughout a number of side-outs. 
 
Helping the Mustangs along was a sharp decline in service errors and playing through a set without net violations, while the Gryphons played along by recording two service errors and almost as many attack errors as the previous two sets combined.
 
With Western rolling and Guelph on the decline, the third set was marked down as a purple and white victory at 25-23.
 
"We were down, big, to start," said Sage. "It was not looking good. The guys fought back and we started to control the match a bit."
 
The Mustang momentum seamlessly moved into set four, with Choja continuing to dominate as one of the top hitters on the floor. Chris Newcombe also made his presence known by blocking a Gryphon attack as soon as he joined the floor.
 
Guelph, down by a game-high eight points, seemed devoid of energy and were unable to stop the Mustangs from closing out the set at 25-17.
 
"One you're up 2-1, it's a little bit easier," said Hamadeh about Western's performance throughout the final set. "You can take a few more risks, and that probably led to a bigger [point] gap in the fourth set."
 
The Mustangs are in Alumni Hall tomorrow night as they take on the CIS No. 1 McMaster Marauders. The game is expected to begin at 8 p.m., with live streaming available at OUA.tv.
 
"It's a little tough to gauge the mentality we should be going in with," said Hamadeh. "The reality is that with a team like McMaster, a team of their calibre really requires a different mentality. Almost respecting their talents and being able to acknowledge that they're capable."
 
"McMaster's going to be tough," adds Sage. "Who's kidding, they're the number one team in the country, maybe even in North America for that matter. They're very competitive."