London, ON – The Mustangs played host to the McMaster Marauders Friday evening at Alumni Hall, with the purple and white falling 3-1 in a hard-fought battle.
 
Both Western and McMaster had 2-0 records to start the season, setting up a tough match-up between talented sides. The Mustangs claimed the first set 25-21, before the Marauders claimed the next three 25-18, 25-23 and 25-17.
 
Jason Guy led the way for the 'Stangs with 16 kills and 3 aces, as Blake Fenwick and Jonah Millard followed with 9 and 7 kills respectively.
 
"I was pleased with the performance," said head coach Jim Sage. "We asked them to do certain things, they tried to execute as best they could, but it just wasn't consistent enough as we went along. We showed we might've had a chance in some of those other sets, and we just couldn't pull it off."
 
Packed stands with lots of energy and cheers set the stage for the Friday night affair. A Josh Thorson ace followed by a visitor error put the Mustangs up 3-1 early on as they looked to extend their unbeaten streak.
 
"We knew this team is top two in the country, so it was a true test of what we could actually do and our mentality was just to battle and be here all night," said Jack Cochran.
 
A slew of McMaster errors would add to the lead, as the visitors took a timeout at 9-5 to the deafening echoes of Mustang supporters.
 
With the score at 11-6, the Marauders strung together four consecutive points to cut the lead, eventually tying it at 12 and 13, before taking the lead at 14-13.
 
The Mustangs and Marauders continued to exchange points back-and-forth, with things sitting tied at 19-19 thanks to a Jack Cochran ace.
 
Some McMaster errors alongside a pair of Jason Guy kills put the 'Stangs up 24-20, which Blake Fenwick finished off for a 25-21 first set victory.
 
"I think that first set is really good for goals," said Cochran. "Our defense and blocking was really good. Our mentality in the first set was really high energy, everybody was in it both on the bench and court, and then closer to the end we questioned ourselves and moving forward we have to try and maintain it."
 
A Fenwick ace led the way to start the second as the purple and white got out to an early 2-0 lead.
 
The set stayed close to start however, as the team's exchanged points before a slight 10-8 McMaster lead took form, which the 'Stangs quickly tied up thanks to a Fenwick kill.
 
A pair of Thorson kills would make it 12-11 for Western, before the visitors in gray found the lead again at 15-14. They were able to extend the lead at 20-16, as Western took a timeout looking to stifle their opponent's momentum.
 
Millard came out with a big kill to excite home supporters, but the set would go the way of the Marauders as they handed the purple and white their first dropped set of the season at 25-18.
 
"[McMaster] picked it up in the next couple sets and our defense broke down a little bit," said Cochran.
 
Things stayed close to start the third, with neither team being able to sustain a multi-point lead.
 
Despite a powerful kill from Guy tying things up at 8-8, the Marauders strung together four consecutive points for a 12-8 lead.
 
With McMaster leading 15-11, Guy stepped up to serve producing an ace in the process of reducing the visitor lead by two.
 
A Thorson kill alongside McMaster errors tied things up at 17, while a Conor Doran ace did so yet again at 21 eliciting a spirited response from the bench in the process.
 
"The game has ups and downs, and the biggest thing is to make sure the peaks don't get too high and the lows don't get too low," said Cochran. "How we get out of those dips is standing by everybody and saying 'we are in this together, we can get out of this together'."
 
The Marauders would pile on the pressure, setting up set-point off of a long rally featuring valiant efforts on both sides, before taking the set 25-23.
 
While McMaster took the lead 3-1 to start, kills from Millard and Guy helped to tie things up at 4 as 'Let's Go Western' cheers began to circle. Millard then put up a big block to give Western the lead, which they extended to 7-4 thanks to back-to-back aces by Guy.
 
The visitors would push back, with things sitting tied at 11-11, before they managed to build a lead of their own at 15-12 hoping to close this one out in four. McMaster was able to do just that by taking the set 25-17.
 
Despite the loss, the Mustangs are focused on the positives, most notably going toe-to-toe with one of the nation's best teams.
 
"[McMaster] ripped serves and hit over top of us a lot," said Sage. "But there wasn't that big of a gap between the two teams, and anyone that saw it would go 'you guys are right there', which is the most important thing. They already have a bye into the national championship, we are going to work really hard to get one of those, and my guys think they're really close. My guys still think they are good, which is great, and our confidence can continue to stay high."
 
With the loss the Mustangs drop to 2-1 on the season, while McMaster remains unbeaten at 3-0. Western now prepares to hit the road next week for a series against York.
 
"[We need to] reset," said Cochran. "Take the lessons we learned and just know we can battle these tough teams and then just battle hard against York." 
 
"[We will] try to [build off of tonight] through practice," concluded Sage. "Key on things we did well and then work on the things we need to clean up."
 
The Mustangs will travel to York next weekend for their first away series of the season. The first match-up will take place on Friday, November 18^th at 6pm.