HAMILTON, Ont. – Saturday afternoon saw the Marauders do what no other team has been able to achieve this season, defeating the Mustangs in four sets (17-25, 26-28, 25-23, 19-25) at the Burridge Gymnasium to hand Western its first loss of the season.
 
The loss brings the Mustangs' record to 9-1, and they remain in first place in the OUA West. The Marauders move to 8-2 with the win and stay in second place behind Western.
 
Kelsey Veltman's 19.5 points topped both sides of the scoresheet, with Candice Scott serving as the second highest scoring Mustang with nine.
 
Joanna Jedrzejewska and Aleks Arsovic were the greatest offensive threat the Marauders had to offer, with both recording 15.5 points. Arsovic notched one more kill than her teammate with 13, but Jedrzejewska racked up six aces throughout the match to help maintain Mac's reputation as the OUA's best serving team.
 
On route to their first set win, the Marauders relied heavily on Aleks Arsovic from the first serve to build up a commanding lead. Arsovic's quick attack had the Mustangs playing slightly off kilter throughout much of the set as they struggled to implement the systems that had helped them find success in the past.
 
Veltman was the only Mustang able to consistently find open floor, while head coach Melissa Bartlett cycled through a variety of outsides as the team attempted to regain balance. The adjustments wouldn't be enough to salvage the set with the Marauders holding as much as a nine-point lead prior to hitting the 20-point mark.
 
Maicee Sorenson brought an end to the opening set with an ace, handing the Mustangs their first set one loss of the season.
 
The purple and white response to the dropped set was swift upon returning to the floor for set two. Everything that had gone wrong for the Mustangs in the first set was not only adjusted, but thriving.
 
Serve reception was tightened, and attackers found ways around the blocking abilities of Arsovic and Alicia Jack. McMaster head coach Tim Louks was forced into a timeout within the first few points of the set as Mac struggled against a renewed energy on the opposing side of the floor.
 
For their part, the Marauders didn't wait until the following set to adjust their game. Sorenson took control from the base line with a six-point serving run to record two aces and prevent the Mustangs from staying in system.
 
When the Geography and Environmental Studies student wasn't splitting the seam, she nearly perfectly cued in and targeted holes in the purple and white defence.
 
Sorenson's serving and Jedrzejewska's attack kept the Marauders ahead for much of the set, until second-year Brescia student Emma Somerville hit the floor.
 
The Oshawa native has become a serving and defensive specialist of sorts for Western, and more than earned the position with consecutive aces that forced McMaster into a timeout and gave the Mustangs the momentum they needed to tie the game at 21.
 
Serving aces and errors were both over-represented in the final points of the set, but eventually began to favour McMaster. It may have taken until their third set-point, but the Marauders eventually captured the second by a score of 28-26.
 
Set three began as the most competitive and tightly contested frame of the match. McMaster found success in short rallies, but the Mustangs far outplayed their opponents in longer contests.
 
The Marauders briefly took a five-point lead following the technical, but Western had soon erased the deficit. Much, like the second set it was serving that would turn the frame on its head. Kat Tsiofas's serving run pushed the Mustangs to match the Marauder score and tie the set at 19-19.
 
It would be Taylor Beedie who would finish things off, with a well-placed attack that was just out of reach of every athlete on the floor to give the Mustangs their first set win at 25-23.
 
Set four saw the Mustangs struggle to match the energy and accuracy of McMaster early on. Both timeouts were gone before the technical, when the Marauders held a nine-point lead.
 
The entire Western lineup faced unprecedented difficulty on attack accuracy throughout the set. Although a number of athletes were able to make shots that riled up the crowd, for the first time all season no one emerged as a consistent threat at the net.
 
Tia Miric and Aja Gyimah checked in after the technical and briefly stole momentum back in favour of the Mustangs with a four-point run, but weren't able to help the team overtake the Marauders.
 
An attack error gave McMaster their final point of the game, taking the fourth and final set by a six-point margin.  
 
Western will be back in action and looking for their tenth win of the season tomorrow afternoon, when they head to St. Catharines to take on the Brock Badgers at 2 p.m.