TORONTO, Ont. – The Mustangs will head into playoffs ranked third in the OUA West after being narrowly edged out by the OUA East leading York Lions in three sets (22-25, 18-25, 24-26) at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Saturday evening.
 
Western's record sits at 11-6, just behind the Guelph Gryphons in second at 12-5. McMaster continues to lead the division at 17-0, while Waterloo fills the final playoff spot.
 
York maintains their spot at the top of the OUA East, followed by Ryerson, Nipissing, and Queen's. 
 
Alex Duncan-Thibault recorded 15.5 points for the Lions to lead all players on Saturday, while Toure Nwakwesi followed with 11.5. Evan Cranshaw led the Mustangs with 9.5, narrowly edging out Zeid Hamadeh and his nine points.
 
The Mustangs started off the first set with strong offensive performances from both Cranshaw and Bryn Ramsay. The pair were essential in the ability of the Mustangs to stay tight to York's score, as was veteran middle Mike Choja.
 
Choja recorded two solo and one assisted block in the first set, going head-to-head with Nwakwesi in the middle. Nwakwesi racked up three solo blocks to challenge the purple and white offence and force improved block coverage.
 
A four-point run capped off the set for the Lions, with the home side taking a 25-22 victory. 
 
Blocking continued to be a central part of both team's strategies in the second set, with the Mustangs sharing the responsibilities around the lineup more than in the previous set.
 
Ramsay, Chris Newcombe, Choja, Cranshaw and Matt Hooker all got hands on the ball to cut off the Lions attack at the net four times – a number matched by York's blockers. With strong blockers on both sides of the net, hitters and both setters had more to take into consideration when lining up their attacks.
 
Western's attack efficiency suffered in the second set, and the Lions also weren't at their peak offensively, with four errors on 24 attempts. As a point of comparison, the first set saw only six in 40 result in a lost point.
 
Despite a weakened offence, the Lions managed to take the second set 25-18.
 
The third and final set of the evening was arguably the best offensive volleyball the Mustangs had played all night as their hitting efficiency nearly tripled that recorded in set one, and easily surpassed the mark from set two.
 
Hamadeh and Cranshaw led the effort in the final set with four kills apiece, and only one ball being hit outside the boundaries of the court between the pair. Duncan-Thibault also had a particularly impressive set, recording seven kills of his own.
 
Western held a slight lead early on, only to have Logan Mend tie the game when he moved back to the service line. Prior to taking over, three consecutive service errors had been made – two from the Mustangs and one from the Lions. The third-year setter pumped out three straight aces to make it 10-10.
 
The Lions would hold two-point lead for the majority of the remainder of the set, initially gaining the advantage from Duncan-Thibault and Nwakwesi, as the Mustangs gave chase to York's score. Western was briefly able to stall the end of the set with a small point run of their own, but an ace from Thompson gave the Lions the final point needed to take the set 26-24.
 
The Mustangs will be back in action next Saturday, March 4, when they return to Toronto for the OUA Quarterfinals. Western will look to paint the Mattamy Athletic Centre purple and white as they take on the Ryerson Rams in pursuit of a spot in the Final Four Tournament. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m., with fans able to catch all the action live on OUA.tv.