LONDON, Ont. – Graduating senior Zeid Hamadeh topped the scoresheet on Senior Day, leading the Western Mustangs to a four set victory over the Waterloo Warriors at Alumni Hall.
 
The Mustangs' record moves to 14-3, with the purple and white finish. With the loss, Waterloo ends the regular season with a 9-8 record to sit fourth in the same division.
 
"They came out strong and we had to ride the tide a bit," said middle Sean Boyne about the matchup. "We played well in the first and second set, third set there was a bit of a hiccup but we worked throughout it and came out strong in the forth set."
 
Hamadeh led the Mustangs in points, totaling 12.5 after ten kills and a handful of blocks. Bryn Ramsay finished with nine points, while Boyne finished with seven points.
 
Rookie Brady Fidler had one of the strongest defensive performances of the night with eight digs, while setter Matt Hooker led with ten.
 
Waterloo relied on Andrew Smondulak to generate points, as he finished with a team-high 8.5. Jacob Nesbitt followed with eight, while Waylon Chen led the team's defensive effort with 11 digs.
 
Prior to the game Western honoured Chris Newcombe, Bryn Ramsay, and Hamadeh in a Senior Day ceremony, recognizing the trio for their various contributions to Mustangs volleyball. Newcombe and Ramsay both spent five years with the team, while Hamadeh has donned the purple and white for four seasons.
 
The Mustangs opened the match with a variation on the regular lineup that saw Boyne and Fidler hit the floor alongside mainstays Matt Hooker, Nathan Phelps, Newcombe, Ramsay, and Hamadeh – combining the veterans with up-and-coming talent.
 
Western rushed throughout the first set, finishing with a 12-point lead at 25-13. 
 
A diverse offensive effort kept the Waterloo blockers on their toes, as Fidler, Hamadeh, and Ramsay shared opportunities at the net. However, it would be Boyne that would come out as the top offensive threat after picking up a point on each of his three attacks. 
 
"Sean has been great in practice and it's really starting to show with his quickness," noted head coach Jim Sage when asked about Boyne's performance. "His footwork has improved so much, and we're really pleased and excited for him next year."
 
Waterloo struggled to keep the ball in the court through the majority of the set, a mistake that they would carry into the following frame.
 
Gianfranco Sartor and Evan Hammond joined the floor for the second set and quickly made their presence known at the net. Hammond has been one of the Mustangs' best blockers for the majority of the season, and is consistently one of the team's most efficient attackers.
 
Sartor, one of the younger athletes on the purple and white roster, has seen less time throughout the season but proved himself to be an up-and-coming threat on the floor.
 
Both athletes contributed to the purple and white blocking effort, which would shut down the Warriors offence five times in the set.
 
Waterloo switched up their lineup in response, but the players were unable to balance hitting both around the block and into the court. All three of the most frequently set athletes had racked up more errors than kills by the end of the set, allowing the Mustangs to take the second by a score of 25-14.
 
The score remained tighter in the third set, as the Warriors began to adjust to the purple and white block and were quick to switch up their line at the first sign of trouble.
 
With the score tied at 12-12, the Warriors were playing their best set of the match.
 
"Our serve receive broke down a little, especially with rotating some guys in and communication. Passing wasn't as fine tuned as it could have been, but it's something we can work through in practice and hopefully won't be a problem moving forward," said Boyne about the third set.
 
Philippe Piche's defensive effort made a big impact in Waterloo's ability to compete, while Nesbitt led the team in blocking. However, Smondulak  and Coathup arguably played the biggest role. The entire Waterloo roster struggled to generate points in the first two sets, but the duo combined for eight kills in the third to lead the Warriors to a 25-16 win.
 
Ramsay returned to the floor for the final set of the evening and was immediately identifiable as the most dominating athlete on the floor.  Regardless of whether the veteran was in the front row, he was the go-to for Hooker as he consistently beat Waterloo's blockers.
 
He also made a big impact on the service line, with back-to-back aces.  
 
His performance was the deciding factor in Western's 25-17 victory, totaling 9.5 points in a single set.
 
The Mustangs will be back in action on Saturday, when they host the Queen's Gaels for an OUA Quarter-final matchup.