GUELPH, Ont. – Despite junior outside hitter Zeid Hamadeh reaching a new career high with 24 points on Sunday afternoon, the Mustangs were edged out by Guelph in five sets (25-22, 24-26, 27-25, 25-21, 15-13) at the Gryphon Athletic Centre.
 
Kendrick Kerr followed Hamadeh as the second highest scoring athlete in the match with 22 points for the home side, while Bryn Ramsay pitched in 18.5 to the purple and white total and Evan Cranshaw added 15.
 
The loss brings Western's record to 8-4, good for third place in the OUA West, while Guelph's win moves them into second in the same division with a 10-4 record. The McMaster Marauders continue to hold down the top spot in the West at 13-0. 
 
A well-matched opening set saw the Gryphons and Mustangs battle back and forth as the teams traded momentum. Western's final burst would take them all the way to 25, while Guelph was close behind with 22 points.
 
Impressive performances from Hamadeh, Newcombe, and Ramsay at the net forced the Gryphons into a series of substitutions in an attempt to find a lineup capable of combating the purple and white starters.
 
Clean play from the Mustangs carried them over the top, as the Gryphons recorded twice as many attack errors and struggled on the serve.
 
The second set saw both teams struggle for to hold onto momentum as they traded the lead back-and-forth.
 
Guelph's offence spent the first several minutes of the set trying to trip up the Mustangs by painting the line but Western's defensive efforts – led by Hamadeh and Ramsay – kept rallies going.
 
Blocking also emerged as an important part of the game, but not in the way Guelph intended. Instead of shutting down the purple and white hitters, the Gryphons found themselves acting more like a backboard that the Mustangs used in their favour by hitting hard into the block to send the ball out of bounds, or just chipping it off the top. 
 
Western eventually built to a 24-22 advantage, however the Gryphons responded with a four-point run that carried them over the Mustangs to take the second set at 26-24.
 
Set three saw the Mustangs rely on the same pillars that had brought them success all year long. Hamadeh, Evan Cranshaw, and Gavin Taylor put the Gryphons out of system with their serves, and the Mustangs continued to use the Guelph blockers to their advantage.
 
Guelph struggled to read the Western offence but continued to keep pace with the purple and white, with the Mustangs lead never reaching more than four points. That tenacity paid off, with the Gryphons tying things up at the midway point of the set before the two teams traded points throughout the remainder of the frame.
 
Kerr, despite an injury scare in the second set, continued to be the greatest offensive threat offered by the Gryphons. Newman received the bulk of sets from Samuel Kloke, but Kerr was operating at a superior efficiency to help Guelph take the third set 27-25.
 
The fourth set saw Western take the lead early on and battle through the remainder of the set to stay ahead.
 
Western better utilized Cranshaw and Mike Choja to supplement their offensive game as the Gryphons began to better close in on Hamadeh. He had been the go-to hitter for the Mustangs all match long, but it in the fourth set Guelph began to anticipate and appropriately adjust to the tendencies of the third-year Science student.
 
Kerr and Newman continued to generate points for the Gryphons, while the serving errors that had plagued the team earlier were sharply reduced. Despite cutting down on unforced errors, Guelph was unable to put a stop to the purple and white advance.
 
A double block by Cranshaw and Choja brought the set to an end with the Mustangs up by four to force set five.
 
While improved Gryphon serving may have been key in the previous set, Western serving moved into the spotlight in the final set to keep the Mustangs competitive.
 
A four-point run at the base line by Evan Hammond saw Guelph's serve reception struggle to adjust and give Kloke a solid first pass. Ramsay added an ace just moments later to bring the Mustangs within one, but the Gryphons didn't allow the Mustangs score to stay close for long.
 
Just as they had all match long, Kerr and Newman were able to keep Western's score at an arm's length by throwing down points when the Gryphons needed it the most and helped carry the team to a 15-13 victory to take the match.
 
The Mustangs will be back in action next weekend, when the team returns to Alumni Hall for their final regular season home games of the year. They'll first take on OUA newcomers Trent Excalibur, followed by a Senior Day game against the Varsity Blues.