London, ON – The Mustangs dominated Queen's in a three-set victory in their first playoff game of the year on Saturday.
Queen's started the afternoon off with possession of the serve, which soon ended up in a point for the Mustangs on a tricky out-of-bands call that the team executed perfectly. Western's
Kate Van Camp managed to put one down, tying up the score at 3-3. Mustangs'
Melissa Langegger stepped back to the serving position and sent an effortless ball over before being interrupted by the afternoon's first timeout; she would go on to serve twice more before possession was returned to Queen's. With the scoreboard showing 16-13 for the Mustangs, the technical timeout was called. Both teams returned from their huddles with vigor. Queen's seemed to be stepping it up in the latter half of the first set as they inched closer and closer to Western in score. However, their efforts may have come too late; the Mustangs were not slowing down as the score reached 23-17.
The Gaels began this set looking for redemption, quickly shooting past Western with 4-2. Western's
Rachael Grove was to thank for her team's sixth point after executing a beautiful solo block. The Mustangs were working off the momentum of their previous set win, able to quickly flip the narrative as the scoreboard now showed 8-4 for Western. Once again, Western's
Van Camp sent the ball reigning down on the Gaels in a powerful kill. Queen's managed to take possession, but not for long after a failed service attempt handed the ball back to the home team. After a second timeout was taken, the teams returned to the court long enough for Western to rack up their sixteenth point, after which the technical timeout was taken. Again, Queen's seemed to be stepping up their game in the latter half of the set in an attempt to catch up to the Mustangs. The score sat at 18-16 as a Western timeout was called, likely in the hopes that it would put a wrench in the Gaels' momentum. With the score reaching 24-20, it looked like it was going to be another set win for the Mustangs. After an effortless serve by Western's Grove, one of the Gaels' players sent the ball flying out of bounds with enough power to make it unrecoverable, earning the Mustangs the winning point they needed. The set ended with a score of 25-20.
Queen's began this set with possession, but that didn't stop Western from earning the first point after an out-of-bounds play; the Mustangs seemed to be gaining many of their points in this manner today, carefully analyzing each ball before deciding whether or not to put it into play. The score quickly rose to 8-5 for Western, though the Gaels were giving it their all. For the first time this set, Queen's surpassed the Mustangs with 10-9, an impressive comeback if they could hold onto it. Noticing the opposition's momentum, Western's coaches chose then to signal for her first timeout of the third set. The Gaels couldn't keep a grip on their momentary lead as the Mustangs quickly corrected the score, going into the technical timeout with a strong lead for the third time this afternoon; the scoreboard showed 16-11. Queen's wasn't giving up this set, holding tight to the one-point deficit between them and Western. As the score sat at 20-18, the Gaels took possession, but lost it soon after. In a flash, Western had racked up the five points they needed to take the third set. With an ending score of 25-18, the Mustangs celebrated their victory of this season's first playoff game and their spot in the final four.
The Mustangs were led by Rachael Grove & Melissa Langegger. Grove had 8 kills and 23 total attacks to go along with 12 points, Langegger had 7 kills, 31 total attacks and 9 digs to help the Mustangs win.
After the win, the Mustangs celebrated by grabbing their phone and facetiming with Head Coach Melissa Bartlett. Bartlett gave birth to Baby Juliet on Thursday and wasn't able to be on the sideline for today's game.
With the win, The Mustangs book their spot in the OUA Final Four which is set for March 6th – 7th, 2020 at the University of Toronto. Stay tuned to westernmustangs.ca for full details on the Mustangs games at the Final Four.
