TORONTO – The Mustangs took down the recently crowned OUA Champions on Saturday afternoon, topping the McMaster Marauders in four sets (25-17, 19-25, 25-16, 27-25) to move onto the fifth-place game tomorrow morning.
 
"I think we were a little disappointed with our loss yesterday, but I think the best way to prove that we can be in the top four in the next few years is to finish fifth and to win a game tomorrow, and to prove that when we're on we can really compete and be in the top four in future years," said Kat Tsiofas about tomorrow's matchup.
 
Tsiofas and middle Maicee Sorensen were each awarded Player of the Game honours, while Kelsey Veltman was the highest scoring athlete on the court. Her 21 points topped both sides of the scoresheet, while Aja Gyimah followed closely with 19.5. Rookie Melissa Langegger also hit the 15-point mark for the Mustangs, while McMaster was led by Aleks Arsovic and Alicia Jack's 11-point performances.
 
"Kelsey was great today, really showing her offensive firepower, contacting the ball high, hard, and deep. Aja offensively and blocking had a great night, and even Melissa, as a rookie, kind of found her own today offensively, playing in her first national championship."
 
The Mustangs hit the floor ready to take down their rivals and get a little bit of vengeance from their OUA Championship loss to McMaster.
 
Western wasted no time in building up a solid lead which would only once be threatened throughout the set, eventually securing a 25-17 first set win.
 
McMaster had no response to the purple and white middles as both Scott and Veltman recorded kill after kill. Regardless of whether they were tipping the ball just over the block or sending it just out of reach of the Marauders, the pair of middles could all but guarantee a point.
 
Scott and Veltman also led the blocking effort throughout the set to further trip up the Marauders.
 
The Marauders rallied to match the Western's score at 13-13, but were unable to maintain the consistency needed to threaten the lead of the Mustangs. An eight-point margin separated the two teams at the end of the set, with Western taking a 25-17 victory.
 
Set two saw a much improved level of play from the Marauders, and the Mustangs struggled to handle their revitalized opposition.
 
The Marauders closed up the defensive holes that Veltman and Scott exploited throughout the first set, while a strong performance from Maicee Sorenson and Arsovic bolstered their offensive effort. Western kept pace early on, but McMaster would pull away before the technical and ride the momentum right to the 25-point mark.
 
Western's blocking and attacking continued to be strong, but so was the defensive coverage of the Marauders. The biggest difference was their ability to cover Veltman, who was previously a sure-fire hitter.
 
While earlier sets saw her cut through blocks and consistently send the ball shooting into the floor, the Marauders stopped shying away and reaped the rewards.
 
"We talked about the fact that we have so much respect for McMaster," said Bartlett when asked how she got the team focused for the next set. "I think we have a mutual respect. We knew that they weren't just going to hand us the game. We had to do the things on our side that were controllable to win the set. They took to the court with a new sense of urgency."
 
The Mustangs tightened up their defensive play for the third set, with Tia Miric and Aja Gyimah leading the charge. The pair have been solid in the backcourt all season long for the team, but their coverage in the third set was unmatched. 
 
The Mustangs held a nine-point lead at the 19-10 mark, two of which were service aces from Scott, and quickly power through the remaining points for a commanding 25-16 victory.
 
"We really tried to stay ahead of them in the score as much as we could and we knew that if we did that we could win the set and eventually win the game."
 
The fourth set moved slowly with the teams exchanging points one-for-one for the majority of the set.
 
Tsiofas kept the McMaster blockers moving and unable to predict who would be taking a swing, while Miric and Courtney Sestric shone on serve receive.
 
"[Kat] did such a great job in diversifying our offence," said Barlett of Western's Player of the Game. "McMaster is a very strong blocking team and we have to keep their middles moving, and she ran some different things with our left sides, our middles were constantly moving away from the center, and even Aja on the right was was hitting close to to centre. […] Tia and Courtney have been so solid in serve receive too, across the entire tournament."
 
It would take an extra two points for the Mustangs to secure a victory, but Scott would eventually end the match with a kill for a 27-25 win.
 
The Mustangs now fight for fifth place, taking on the AUS Champion Dalhousie Tigers at 10 a.m. on Sunday, with live streaming available at USPORTS.live