LONDON, Ont. – The Mustangs didn't quite get the homecoming they expected on Saturday evening, as they fell to the Brock Badgers in five sets (26-28, 25-17, 22-25, 25-14, 11-15) in the purple and white home opener at Alumni Hall. 
 
Western and Brock now sport matching records, each having two wins and one loss.  
 
"We maybe underestimated Brock a bit," noted Kat Tsiofas after the match. "We were focused on ourselves and our improvement so much going into today. "[We focused on] defence, getting in position, little kinks we needed to work out. Today it showed that we're still working out some things. It's still the beginning of the season, we still have a lot to work on."
 
"They're a very athletic team," added head coach Melissa Bartlett. "They've got some good weapons. I think our team was honest and said that they underestimated [Brock], and were probably looking ahead to tomorrow's game."
 
It should come as no surprise to fans who have followed the team in recent seasons that three-time All-Canadian Kelsey Veltman was the highest scoring athlete on the floor with 17.5 points. The majority of points came from her attack (13 kills), but the 6-2 middle also recorded one ace, three solo blocks, and an assisted block throughout the match.
 
Meanwhile, Lauren Condotta led the Badgers to victory with 14 points, while also proving to be one of the most valuable defensive athletes on the court with a team-high 23 digs.
 
Western took a few minutes to warm up to the court, with three of Brocks first four points coming directly off of purple and white errors. A missed serve, net violation, and attack that was sent more than a foot outside the confines of the court helped Brock take an early lead.
 
A pair of unreturned serves from Danielle Grasman, and smart playmaking from Tsiofas seemingly revitalized the Mustangs, who went into the technical timeout with a five-point lead.
 
Brock would slowly shave down the point difference throughout the set, relying on with strong serving across the roster and the firepower of Tori Carroll to keep the Mustangs off guard and tie the game at 24-24.
 
The Badgers would ultimately take the set 28-26, following a handful of tightly contested rallies.
 
Set two begin right where the first left off, with the two teams going point-for-point and refusing to give away a single point. Former U SPORTS All-Rookie Melissa Langegger was one of the most valuable assets at the net for Western, adding a team-high four points throughout the set.
 
Western had established a dominating lead by the time they hit the 20-point mark, forcing Brock to take timeouts at 20-14, and 24-16.
 
A missed serve from Brock would bring an end to the set, giving the Mustangs a 25-17 victory.
 
Blocking took center stage in the beginning stages of the third set, with Brock shutting down Western's top attackers and forcing a more timid offensive performance from the Mustangs. Even when the ball did cross the net, Brock offered comprehensive coverage that left few exploitable holes on the floor.
 
"That was an issue the entire game," noted Bartlett about the Badgers performance. "Brock blocked well, but they also defended like crazy. They were relentless and super aggressive defensively. Offensively that frustrated us a little bit. We're used to having so much success offensively and in the end we made a lot of errors at critical points."
 
"When we get into that kind of situation, we let it get into our head a bit," added Tsiofas. "We made a couple strings of errors. In the future, in a situation like that, we just need to trust our practice, trust our abilities, and know that if we can keep putting the ball in play and stay aggressive then it'll turn out in our favour in the future."
 
While tempering the purple and white offence, the Badgers were thriving in their own right. Condotta stole the spotlight with eight kills in the third set alone, while Grace Pyatt added four of her own at the net.
 
Despite the Badgers elevating their game, the Mustangs only trailed by a couple of points throughout the set. Gyimah had the most success breaking through Brock's blockade, while Grasman and Kristina Curcin each made an impact through the middle.
 
Despite the strong performance from a number of Mustangs, Western was unable to overcome the Badger lead and would eventually drop the set 22-25.
 
The fourth set saw the Mustangs make quick work of the Badgers and quickly build a commanding lead.  By the time Western rounded the 20-point mark, they had more than doubled the number Brock had on the scoreboard.  
 
Tsiofas spread attacking opportunities across the court, with Taylor Beedie's three kills leading the pack. That being said, Langegger, Veltman, Rachael Grove and Gyimah also managed to add at least one point to the board from their offensive performance. It was precision more than power that gave the Mustangs the upper hand, with only two errant hits.
 
"The setters thought it was a good opportunity to mix it up a bit for us [offensively]. And for us, going forward, that's a good lesson to learn. Look at the score from that set. That's a key for us, we've got a lot of diversity and we've got five attackers on the court we can rely on. It's definitely something we'll look at in film and look at some trends, and hopefully going forwards we can hopefully have more of a balanced attack."
 
However, the same can't be said for Brock. The Badgers struggled more than they had in previous sets to keep the ball within the confines of the court, allowing the Mustangs to take a 25-14 victory.
 
The fifth and final set saw the Badgers take an early 8-5 lead, and ride the momentum to the 15-point mark.
 
Brock moved away from focusing on firepower when attacking, and instead began targeting specific areas of the purple and white defence. The shift prevented the team from sending the ball out of bounds and forced confusion on the part of the Mustangs.
 
Scrappy defensive play from Condotta and Julia Balatbat allowed Brock to stay ahead of the Mustangs, and continued to curb their offence.
 
Momentum began to shift in favour of Western when Veltman earned three consecutive points from a kill and two blocks, but the burst wasn't enough to discourage the Badgers who would take the set 15-11.  
 
The Mustangs will be looking to bounce back tomorrow afternoon, when they take on the McMaster Marauders for the first time since the purple and white win (3-1) in the 2017 U SPORTS Consolation Semi-Final. Game time is set for 2 p.m.