A season-long five game home stand will conclude this weekend when Western battles the Queen's Gaels on Saturday and the RMC Paladins on Sunday.

The pair of matches this coming weekend will be the final games the purple and white play in 2017, with their season resuming on January 12th. However, they do not resume action at Alumni Hall until January 27.

Currently sitting in second place in the West with a game in hand over the conference-leading McMaster Marauders, Western will look to close out the first portion of their season strong and avoid a losing record on their home stand. Having opened the season with a pair of victories on the road, the Mustangs narrowly dropped a five-set match to Brock and were bested by McMaster in their first two matches at home.

Western got back into the win column last Friday, earning their first victory at Alumni Hall this season in a tightly contested five-set match against Windsor. No set in the match was decided by greater than five points. After Western took the two opening sets, the Lancers made a valiant effort in forcing a fifth set but the Mustangs pulled away with four of the final five points of the set to move back over .500 for the season.

Western's prowess at the net came through in the match against Windsor as the OUA leaders in blocks per set continued their 3 blocks-per-set pace against the Lancers, edging them out 15-4.

Their strong play at the net will need to continue in their matchup against Queen's on Saturday as the Gaels are currently riding a three-game winning streak and are tied for second in the OUA in total victories with five. Queen's has only dropped six sets all season and have defeated three of their opponents in the minimum three sets. 

Queen's has been playing an aggressive brand of volleyball this season, ranking third in the OUA in kills per set and first in service aces per set. In their last match, a victory against Lakehead, the Gaels registered nine service aces in three sets and had three starters recording multiple aces.

The Mustangs will play host to RMC the following evening. The Paladins have struggled as of late, after being defeated in six consecutive matches. Surprising to some after the team began their season with an opening victory over the Trent Excalibur. RMC's schedule so far has been among the toughest in the OUA, having already played several top teams with at least four victories this season including: Queen's, York and Nipissing. Kara Stephan has been a bright spot for the Paladins this season: the Outside Hitter is fifth in the OUA in total kills, third in digs per set, and second in service aces per set.