WINDSOR, Ont. – Fifteen points from
Bryn Ramsay helped the Western Mustangs get the second half of their schedule off to a good start with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-23) win over the Windsor Lancers on Sunday afternoon at the St. Denis Centre.
The win, Western's third straight sets victory of the season, moves the Mustangs to 4-3 and puts them into a tie for third place in the OUA West alongside the Waterloo Warriors. Windsor falls to 0-6 with the loss, keeping them in sixth in the West standings.
Ramsay's 15 points was just a half point off of his season high of 15.5, and came from 13 kills and two aces.
Mike Choja and
Evan Cranshaw were next up on the scoresheet, with both recording season-highs in points with 12.5 and 10 respectively.
Second-year left side John Moate led the Lancers with 12 points in the loss, including 10 kills and two blocks.
After falling behind 5-2 to start the set, the Mustangs came out firing after that, eventually racking up a .333 hitting percentage compared to a -.074 mark from the Lancers. First taking the lead at 7-6, the Mustangs wouldn't give it back for the rest of the frame, leading 16-14 at the technical timeout before going on a 9-2 run to end the set with a 25-16 win.
The second set proved to be a more closely contested affair, with the two teams trading points to set the scoreboard at 10-10 before Western began to pull away, going on a 6-2 run to take a 16-12 lead at the technical timeout.
Following the timeout the Mustangs continued to extend their lead, as kills from Choja and Cranshaw, followed by back-to-back attack errors from the Lancers forced Windsor into a timeout at 20-14. Despite giving up three points off of errors of their own, the Mustangs closed out the set with a 25-20 win.
The third set proved to be the closest of the day with neither team able to build up a sizeable advantage. After leading 16-15 at the technical, Western built up the largest lead of the set at 18-15, before the Lancers pulled even on a kill from Oscar Scholin and a pair of attack errors by the Mustangs.
Tied again at 19-19, that was as close as things would get, with the Mustangs being the first to 25 thanks to two kills from Ramsay, one from Cranshaw, and three points from Lancers' errors to take the set 25-23 and the match.
Western will now get set for a pair of road contests next weekend, as the team heads to Hamilton on Saturday, January 21, to take on McMaster, before heading to St. Catharines on Sunday to face the Brock Badgers. While the Mustangs and Marauders have already squared off once this season, with McMaster taking a four set win back in November, Sunday's matchup with Brock will be the first time Western has met the Badgers in regular season play since they returned to OUA competition this season after a 15-year hiatus.
