London, ON - The Mustangs achieved their first victory in six years over the Toronto Varsity Blues in a 5 set match at Alumni Hall Friday (13-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-12).
Western had to fight hard to come back after a deficit in the first two sets. The team's service broke down and the team suffered several communication errors. Despite the Blues strong defense, earning successive reception success, the Mustangs turned around at the third set.
"We made several communication errors, which against a team like Toronto is not good" head coach Melissa Bartlett said. "But when we're passing well, I think we're one of the toughest teams in the conference."
Kate Van Camp proved crucial to Western's turnaround, earning 27 attacks and 7 digs for her team.
The Varsity Blues began the game strong earning the first five points. After several service failures, the Mustangs were able to come back with 4 points. Kristina Curcin earned several key blocks for the Mustangs, keeping them with a competitive score. Despite this effort and Kelsey Veltman's 10 attacks, Toronto won the set 25-13.
Set two saw the Mustang's energy rise to the competition. Toronto began with another strong round, earning five consecutive points. Veltman earned several attacks, keeping Western in the game despite Toronto's 8-3 lead. The Mustangs maintained a slight deficit for the remainder of the round. Courtney Sestric made several effective dives to keep the Mustangs in the game, but the Blues eventually won the round 25-21.
After the second set, Bartlett talked with the Team.
"She just said to keep pushing" Sestric said. "We've been practicing all week for them: she said just trust in our abilities and we can do it."
Set three began with alternating points from each team, keeping the set tied 2-2. With several effective dives, Western pulled ahead 5-2 at the first time out. Western's consistency and Toronto's reception failures brought the Mustangs ahead 9-2, the crowd cheering. Toronto came back to earn several consecutive points. Despite this, several long rallies kept the Mustangs ahead. One final attack and a Blues reception error allowed the Western to claim their first set victory 25-20.
Mustangs began the fourth set with a smaller lead on the Blues. After several long rallies Western earned the first few points of the round. They maintained only a narrow lead, the Blues returning with a few strong attacks. Western earned several consecutive points with reception errors by the Blues, increasing the deficit of Toronto and leading 16-9. Several long rallies with effective blocks kept Western ahead 23-15. A service failure put the Mustangs up to 24, though several Toronto attacks kept the set going. After a time out and Kristina Curcin attacked to win the round for the Mustangs 25-20.
Two blocks by Veltman brought the Mustangs enthusiastically ahead at the outset. Though the Blues made several attacks, Western stayed competitive tying the score 5-5. The teams earned points one by one, Toronto starting to lead the set. Toronto pulled ahead, but the Mustangs remain competitive with several effective attacks. After a consistent deficit, Western tied Toronto 9-9. Several Toronto reception failures allowed the mustangs to pull ahead 12-10. A long rally kept Western ahead 14-11 and the crowd cheered them on. An effective attack pulled the Mustangs ahead to win the fifth set and the game, 15-12.
"It was definitely an important win" Sestric said. "This is actually the first time we've beaten Toronto in the regular season. Tomorrow Ryerson is definitely a different team so we'll need to rework our defense."
The Mustangs will enter their game against the Ryerson Rams tomorrow at 6:00pm energized from their most recent victory.
