LONDON, Ont. – The McMaster Marauders held off a strong comeback attempt from the Western Mustangs, taking a five set thriller (19-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-21, 13-15) at Alumni Hall. 
 
"It's always tough to lose in five, especially to [McMaster], but we have our heads held high, and we got better tonight" said Chris Newcombe, adding that, "it's tough to prepare for a team like McMaster because they have so many weapons, but we prepared, and we did well."
 
With the loss, the Mustangs record falls to 2-2 while the Marauders move to 4-1.
 
Newcombe led the way for the Mustangs, topping the scoresheet with 16.5 points from 13 kills, one service ace, one solo block, and three assisted blocks. Not far behind was Zeid Hamadeh who came in with 13.5 points of his own. Andrew Richards and Brandon Koppers came out on top for the Marauders, earning 22 and 19.5 points, respectively.
 
Western fell in the first and second sets by a score of 19-25, with their hitting percentage sitting at .120 percent in the first and .250 percent in the second. McMaster's hitting percentage was .360 percent in the first, and .281 percent in the second.
 
"We didn't really execute well in the first and second set. But then we played well the rest of the match, which I was pleased about," said Sage about the first two sets.
 
The third set saw Western's first victory of the evening (25-21) followed by a second win in the fourth set (25-21) to send the game to five. The set wins would not have been possible without the huge effort from Evan Hammond, as he earned four kills in the fourth set alone.
 
Meanwhile, on the Marauder side of the court, Koppers led with 5.5 points, from five kills, and one assisted block in the fifth.
 
"Usually the best way to stop a team that's as big as Mac is right at the net. Those blocks that we were getting were massive. Hammond was great, our outside blockers were great, and our tip defense was awesome too," said Newcombe on the success in the third and fourth sets.
 
Matt Hooker also proved to be a strong asset in the third and fourth sets, including tallying seven assists in the third, and 15 assists in the fourth. Sage expanded on Hooker's role within team, noting that, "he runs the show. He had to work hard to put the ball in the right place, then our passing improved. He was able to find Newcombe in the middle, and that set our outside hitters up to have some success as well."
 
The fifth set was closely contested, as both teams looked to walk away with the win. McMaster took the lead but was stalled at the 14-point mark, with a kill from Evan Cranshaw, followed by an assisted block from Bryn Ramsay and Newcombe to pull Western within two. Despite the efforts of the Mustangs, the fifth set ended in favour of the Marauders by a two-point margin.
 
"We'll take a lot of positives from this. To fight back it shows that we have a lot of heart, and we get better each time we get out on the court," noted Sage.
 
The Mustangs are back in action next weekend, as they face off against Windsor Lancers Friday night. Game time is set for 8:00pm at Alumni Hall and fans can catch the action live online at OUA.tv.