LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs earned their seventh straight win this afternoon after a tough four set (27-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-18) battle with the OUA East leading York Lions.
 
"They're first in the East right now, and they're a big team with live arms - they hit the ball hard. We know we had to stop them at the net, get some digs and get some touches, and we did that pretty well," said outside Evan Cranshaw about the team's performance.
 
With the win the Mustangs remain in second place in the OUA West with a 9-2, just one win behind McMaster. Meanwhile, York's loss allows the team to stay in first place in the OUA East, but they now share the top spot with Ryerson while sporting identical 9-4 records.
 
Fifth-year Bryn Ramsay and Cranshaw led the Mustangs offensively, each with 15 kills. Ramsay was the point leader by the end of the match, contributing a total of 18 points.
 
Also putting in a stellar performance was captain and starting setter Matt Hooker. The Ivey student has been lauded by his coaches and teammates alike all season long for his technical ability as well as his leadership, and today was no exception.
 
"He's a leader on our team for sure," noted Cranshaw. "Everyone on the team looks to him for guidance and he runs the offence out there. He's the guy we go to."
 
York's Andrew Shotbolt was the highest scoring player of the match, with 19.5 points from 18 kills, one ace, an an assisted block.
 
The opening set was a tight battle the saw both teams take the lead at various points only to fall back behind their competitor. Western, however, would end the game on top with a 27-25 victory.
 
York spread attack opportunities fairly evenly between Tyler Covach, Andrew Tauhid, and Shotbolt – with the latter two causing frustration for the Mustangs as they earned a combined seven kills.
 
Andriy Sozanskyy also emerged as a player to watch, earning a point all four times he sent the ball over the net.
 
Meanwhile, the Mustangs would rely on the usual suspects to keep the purple and white score tight to that of the Lions.
 
Ramsay took the lead offensively, while Newcombe and Zeid Hamadeh formed a solid block that repeatedly tripped up the Lions.
 
As a whole, blocking became a more integral part of the purple and white game than it has been in the past. Five points came off blocking alone, which excludes several more blocks that were continued by the Lions.
 
Sage called a timeout when the score was 24-25 to allow the team to reset, and it seemed to do the trick. The Mustangs hit the floor and knocked out three consecutive points, served by Matt Stasiuk.
 
The second set was just as tight, with the Mustangs holding only a two-point lead at the technical.
 
However, that two-point lead soon become six, with Western taking the second set 25-19.
 
Blocking continued to play a major role in the success of the Mustangs, with Newcombe, Hammond, and Hooker all getting their hands on the ball and sending it back towards the York court.
 
Evan Cranshaw came into his own in throughout set to become the prominent force on the purple and white offense, but everyone on the roster was doing their part. Only one attack error made it onto the score sheet – with the Mustangs earning a point on almost 50% of their attempts.
 
In contrast, the Lions struggled to generate points and in part relied on purple and white service errors to bolster their point total.
 
Facing a two set deficit, the Lions ramped up their level of play for the third set.
 
For the first time all match, the Mustangs weren't able to continue play after a Lions block. York was blocking better than they had in the previous two sets, and was able to cut off even the most efficient and accurate purple and white hitters.
 
As a result, the Lions had buried Western on the scoreboard, leading 18-9.
 
"In the first two sets everything was going our way, everything was clicking," said assistant coach and former Mustang Justin Scapinello. When stuff's not going your way and the other team is fighting really hard to stay in the game you need to find your own energy. […] You've really got to push the other team and can't just rely on them to make an error."
 
Sage switched up his lineup in response, and the presence of Sean Boyne seemed to be what the Mustangs needed.
 
"He came in off the bench and did his job," noted Scapinello. "That's exactly what we need for guys coming off the bench. They know that at any point in time they can come off the bench."
 
Western managed to erase the nine-point deficit and match the Lions at 22-22 largely due to an improved blocking effort from the Mustangs. 
 
However, the comeback wouldn't stick as the Lions pushed through to top the Mustangs 26-24.
 
The Mustangs went through the majority of the fourth set with a couple of points on the Lions, and finished the set in the same manner.
 
Cranshaw dominated the court offensively, while Hamadeh, Ramsay, and Nathan Phelps were solid in the back court.
 
As a whole, set four saw the strongest offensive effort from the purple and white half of the floor. The team was hitting at .571 percent – their best of the afternoon. The effort allowed them to take the final set by a score of 25-18.
 
Also helping the Mustangs along was strong serving from the roster, with only one error in the whole set.
 
Stasiuk again joined the floor to act as a serving and defensive specialist as the end of the game drew closer. The libero and setter has been an increasingly important part of the roster, as his versatility as an athlete allows him to step into several different rolls.
 
"He's our do everything every other day guy," said Scapinello about Stasiuk. "He sets, he digs, he serves, he does it all. When you need him to do something he's there and says 'yes coach, I can do that no problem.' And that's really what we need."
 
The Mustangs will return to the court next weekend, when they hit the road for a pair of games against Toronto and Trent. Both games are scheduled to begin at 8 pm.