London, ON – The Mustangs finished off McMaster in three sets (3-0) on Friday night to kick off their final weekend of the regular season.
Western was led by fourth-year Melissa Langegger who had 14 kills over the match while Maddie Bowles & Kate Van Camp each added 13 digs.
"A lot is riding on this weekend and it's not often that it comes down to the final weekend for us so that was a very important first step in securing a home playoff game," said Mustangs Head Coach Melissa Bartlett "McMaster is great rival and kudos goes out to our team for a really focussed three-set win."
The Mustangs traded leads with McMaster throughout the first set. Western never put more than three points up together at a time but still found a way to pull out the 25-20 win. Langegger led the way for Western with 7 kills in the first set.
"I think we've been working on peaking and keeping a consistent energy and I think tonight it really showed what we are capable of," said Langegger.
The second set again saw a tight back and forth action. McMaster had a few stretch runs of points during the set but Western was able to chip away and keep it close. Langegger would put the set away with a service ace and take the 2-0 game lead.
Western was determined in the third set as they jumped out to a 10-5 lead but McMaster was able to pull within a single point at 16-15 at the technical timeout. The Mustangs came out of the break firing on all cylinders with a pair of 3 point steaks and put the game away 25-20 on a Kate Ferguson serve that was returned long.
"We let them get close a couple of times and then I think we got to a point where we realized it was a moment we needed to push," said Langegger "We have a couple of really mature players on our team that have a lot of experience that led that charge and kept everyone calm and we pulled out those sets."
With the win tonight, the Mustangs have earned home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs which begin next week. Western is likely to face Queen's who they've faced the last three years in a row in the quarterfinals with the Mustangs winning all three times.
Western wrap up their regular-season schedule on Saturday against the Brock Badgers, it will also be seniors night where the graduating student-athletes will be recognized.
"I think a lot of recruiting classes are dubbed "the rookies" but in my mind, this class is still the rookies." said Bartlett "It's crazy to think that was four years ago, just looking at the pictures of them back then and to see how much they've matured and grown as people and athletes is really special so we are looking forward to celebrating them."
Game time is a special 5 pm start at Alumni Hall. Western students get in free with their ONECard while tickets can be purchased at westernmustangs.ca/tickets
