THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Western made quick work of their opponents on Saturday afternoon, taking down the Lakehead Thunderwolves in three short sets (25-16, 25-15, 25-21) at the LU Fieldhouse.
 
With the win Western's record moves to 7-3, good for second in a competitive OUA West Division. Lakehead remains in fifth place within the same division, now with three wins and eight losses.
 
Kelsey Veltman continued her stellar play for the Mustangs, leading the team in scoring with 10 points after recording an ace, and a solo block. Melissa Langegger was close behind with eight points of her own in the win.
 
Rheanna Geisel narrowly missed beating out Veltman on the scoresheet, recording 9.5 points. Also making an impression was Ciara Zarn, who recorded 14 digs.
 
The Mustangs struggled to keep up with the Thunderwolves in the opening minutes of the first set as self-imposed errors quickly put them in a deficit. A net violation and a couple of missed serves kicked off the frame, putting Western back by four points at 3-7.
 
Western turned the set on its head after a pair of kills from Veltman seemingly reenergized the purple and white lineup, and the Mustangs quickly took control of the set.
 
Lakehead struggled to adapt to an improved Mustangs blocking game as they were unable to find the seam, and instead routinely sent the ball outside the confines of the court. In comparison, the Thunderwolves net defence that had found success in shutting down attack attempts in the opening points of the set was struggling to properly time and track the Mustangs attackers.
 
Despite the rough start, the Mustangs would take the set by a nine-point margin, 25-16.
 
Set two opened as the exact opposite as its predecessor, with the Thunderwolves initially struggling to keep up with Western's pace. Western maintained a lead throughout the entirety of the set – and while it varied – it never dropped below two points. The purple and white continued to prove why Western was the top ranked team in several OUA blocking categories with Danielle Grasman making a particularly strong impact.
 
To the credit of the Thunderwolves, their block coverage managed to pick up a number of the rejected attacks in an attempt to continue play, but often resulted in the Mustangs slamming the ball right back into the floor.  
 
The Thunderwolves experimented with lineup changes throughout the set in an attempt to slow down the Mustangs point flow, and while they were able to keep rallies going they continued to struggle with holding back Gyimah and Veltman.
 
Much like the first, the second sent went in Western's favour as they ended with a score of 25-15.
 
The final set of the game was a more closely contested affair than the previous two, as the two teams were constantly locked in rallies.
 
Fourth-year libero Courtney Sestric made a large impact for the Mustangs as she was often on the defensive end of some of Lakehead's top attackers, alongside Langegger.
 
Lakehead held a one-point lead at the technical, after a purple and white ball had flown out of bounds.
 
Both teams were closely watching the lines and cautious about unnecessarily extending rallies throughout the set, but the practice would come back to bite Lakehead. With Western only a few points away from 25, they allowed a serve from setter Kat Tsiofas to drop in the corner, with Western soon taking the set 25-21 to sweep the match in straight sets.
 
Lakehead and the Mustangs will meet on the court in the L.U. Fieldhouse again tomorrow afternoon. The game is set to take place at 2 pm, with fans able to stream all the action live on OUA.tv.