LONDON, Ont. – The Mustangs kicked off their final weekend of regular season action in Alumni Hall by topping the Trent Excalibur in straight sets (25-18, 25-15, 25-15).
 
With the win, Western's record moves to 9-5 for third place in the OUA West, while the Excalibur remain winless 15 games into the season.
 
Gavin Taylor was the most dominating athlete on the floor with 14 points, while Jacob Bothen and Omer Suliman split the top spot for Trent with five points each.
 
The Mustangs debuted a new starting lineup for the opening set – and even though it took the group a few rallies to start gelling – they carried the team to a 25-18 victory.
 
Rookies Ben Hooker and Matt Stasiuk had previously played together at St. Paul's and again shared the court through all three sets, while Taylor and Evan Hammond also moved into starting spots for the entirety of the match.
 
"It's the fifth year playing together for [Stasiuk and I], so it's nice to play with him" said Hooker when asked about about the lineup. "It's really familiar. […] I know how he plays, and he knows how I play so he's definitely tailored to how I set."
 
Taylor, who has battled an injury throughout the season, quickly became Hooker's favourite target to lead the team's offensive effort. His four kills were closely followed by the three of Zeid Hamadeh and Evan Cranshaw, while Trent struggled to find an athlete able to consistently break through Western's defence.
 
Set two was more of the same for the Mustangs, who continued to cut through Trent's blockers with ease as another few athletes were rotated onto the court.
 
Integral to the purple and white game was the careful decision making of both Hooker and his lineup. Across the floor the Mustangs were reading Trent's defensive movements and focusing on placing the ball instead of taking the power shot.  
 
The Excalibur responded by switching up their lineup, and Omer Suliman immediately made an impact. The rookie was the most frequently utilized athlete throughout the set, and managed to get the better of the Mustangs four times. However, his performance wasn't enough to overcome the lead built up by Western.
 
Gianfranco Sartor would solidify the purple and white win with a kill to bring the score to 25- 15.
 
Set three started off tighter than the previous two as the Mustangs struggled with serving. While all the balls were clearing the net, several had a bit too much power on them and landed outside the confines of the court.
 
"Focus. [We] let up a little bit," said Sage about what changed in the third set. "We need to serve better that that. I wasn't pleased with that part of our performance. The spinners were inconsistent, kind of all over the place. There were some missed floats. That can't happen at crucial times. […] We've got to clean that up against Toronto or that could be our downfall."
 
"It could be a mixture of focus, or maybe fatigue for some guys," added Hooker. "We handled the first two sets pretty easily, so it's normal for guys to kind of break focus and to start making errors like that."
 
Western made up for the lost points with tremendous blocking, while using the blocks coming from the Trent side of the court to their advantage. The Mustangs continued pressuring the Excalibur at the net throughout the set to secure a fast 25-15 win.
 
"We were pleased. The guys that don't get a chance to play a lot performed well," said Sage about the rotating lineup. "We use it as a test so that we have confidence if someone doesn't play well or struggles into the playoffs, we're confident that [one of the younger athletes] can come in and perform. That was the test, and they did quite well."
 
The Mustangs will be back on the court tomorrow at 8 p.m., when they take on the Varsity Blues after honouring their graduating seniors.  
 
"Tomorrow will be a whole new beast," noted Sage. "U of T have gone to a fifth set with so many teams and just come out on the wrong end of it. Other than that they'd be right in the mix. They're a lot better than their record. We know that. They were our nemesis last year, so we'll be pumped up to play them for sure."
 
"In the past Toronto has given [us] some difficulties, especially last year," added Hooker. "The guys are pretty fired up and besides that it's potentially our last home game of the year."