LONDON, Ont. – A 31.5 point performance from Kelsey Veltman carried the Mustangs to victory in their final regular season game of the year, topping the Warriors after four sets of competitive action (17-25, 25-16, 25-22, 27-25).
 
The Mustangs end the season second in the OUA West, a position they secured several weeks ago, with a 13-6 record.  Waterloo finishes with an 8-11 record, but their playoff seeding will be determined by tomorrow's matchup between Guelph and Windsor.
 
"I think it was a great performance from a variety of players," said Mustangs head coach Melissa Bartlett. "We started with a bit of a different lineup to give all of our seniors an opportunity. […] Waterloo played well and they forced us to adjust, but what we did better than last night was actually making those adjustments."
 
Veltman's 31.5 points was a match-high, and totaled more than the next three highest scoring Mustangs combined. Carly Kimmett recorded ten points, while Danielle Grasman added nine. Rounding out the top scorers was Aja Gyimah, with eight points.
 
The Warriors were led by Sarina Trasolini, who put up 17 points throughout the set, while Claire Mackenzie followed with 11.5.
 
Prior to the game, Western recognized seniors Katie McKenna, Taylor Beedie, Kat Tsiofas, Gyimah and Grasman for their contributions to Mustang volleyball.
 
The Warriors half of the court was noticeably quieter than the purple and white end, and their communication suffered as a result. Western's first few points saw the ball land in between Waterloo's players with neither of them stepping up to actually go for the dig.  Warriors head coach Shayne White called a timeout with his team down 7-1, and a seemingly new team returned to the floor.
 
Waterloo outscored the Mustangs 11-5 to tie the game at 12-12, at which point they began to build up a lead of their own to head into the technical up by four.
 
"As soon as they started to fight back, we struggled to match their energy," said Bartlett. "It's a game of momentum so as soon as we started to shy away we were in trouble. But we were able to reestablish in set two which was our goal."
 
The Warriors relied on strong serving from Mackenzie for much of the run, along with Sarina Trasolini who each bested the purple and white serve receive to record an ace while Serena Otshudi recorded two.
 
Defensively they played a much cleaner game that saw athletes more confident in going for the ball instead of relying on a teammate. That alone made a world of difference as it provided setter Claire Gagne with better passes and allowed her to better utilize all her offensive weapons.
 
At the same time, Waterloo's earlier communication issues seemed to be passed on to Western – especially in serve receive.  However, that didn't stop Katie McKenna from putting up a standout performance that saw her lead the Mustangs offensively. Her five kills was the most of any athlete on the floor, and also finished the set with the best hitting percentage of both teams.
 
"She was third or fourth on the team for kills which is pretty good for one set," said Veltman when asked about McKenna's performance. "She came out firing, she's a great senior and great to have on the court. She's super loud and brought a lot of energy."
 
The Warriors would use their momentum to carry them through to the end of the set, handing the Mustangs a 17-25 loss.
 
"We got ahead early and got excited. When we get ahead we kind of get lazy in the middle and they caught us off guard. We just relaxed too much in that first set."
 
A revised lineup hit the floor for the second frame that saw the addition of Curcin, and Kimmett, while Veltman shifted to the left side. The change allowed the Mustangs to stay close to the Warriors on the scoreboard before pulling away to lead at the technical.
 
After a relatively quiet first set, Danielle Grasman broke out in the second to help lead the team to a second set victory. In addition to being her usual dominating presence at the net, she also was a source of stability from the base line as she served seven straight.
 
Also helping the Mustangs along was a pair of back-to-back technical calls on the Warriors that allowed Western to take the set 25-16.
 
Veltman got the Mustangs started on a high note to open the third, earning her team the first three points of the frame with a pair of kills and an assisted block. The Warriors would add two points to Western's total early on as they had difficultly staying consistent from the baseline.
 
The same can't be said about the Mustangs however, who had four aces on the board before they even hit the ten-point mark. The first was a tape serve from Jessica Lam that saw the ball just dribble over the net, while the following three came all at once courtesy of Grasman.
 
Just as they did in the first set, the Warriors went into an early timeout and returned to the floor much improved to tie the set at 13-all.
 
Waterloo tightened up their performance from the service line to reduce the number of unearned points the Mustangs could collect, while also improving the strength of their block. Despite being effective in the first set, the Warriors' block initially fell apart in the third frame as it did little to stop the Mustangs from cutting straight through.
 
Western too would rely on blocking throughout the set, with the skill giving the Mustangs an extra boost towards the end to take the third 25-22.
 
Waterloo went through the exact same pattern to open the fourth set, burying themselves into a deep deficit before coming back to tie the game at 10-10.
 
Mackenzie was a defensive standout for the Warriors, while libero Sarah Remedios was handling Veltman's attacks better than most in the OUA. However, all it took to get the Mustangs back out ahead was a series of attacks that saw her paint the line instead of going cross-court.
 
Relentless, the Warriors would again match the purple and white score at 21-21 as their blocking reached its strongest point of the contest. Serena Otshudi was the primary threat, as she essentially eliminated the ability for Western to get a point from the right-side attack.
 
Grasman would bring an end to the set with her sixth ace of the night, with the team taking a narrow 27-25 victory.
 
Western returns to the court next weekend to host the Queen's Gaels in the first round of playoffs next Saturday at Alumni Hall.
 
"We hosted last year against Queen's, so I think we have really good playoff experience, and we've been in final four for the last few years," said Veltman about next week's matchup. "Going in we have a lot of confidence and we're going to just work hard in practice, and practice how we want to play on Saturday."