London, ON – The Mustangs took on McMaster at Alumni Hall Friday night, falling just short of a five-set comeback 3-2.
 
Both boasting a 2-0 record after opening weekend, the two team's got set for what ended up being a hard-fought battle. Western came back to take the third and fourth sets after dropping the first two before ultimately falling in the fifth.
 
Jaeya Brach led the way with 12 kills, while Devin Gerth and Ava Ebert followed with 9 and 8 respectively. Lindsay Kleuskens and Janelle Albert both had 2 aces, while Hannah Joo had 38 assists.
 
"It's unfortunate to lose, but credit to them they're a great team that played well," said head coach Melissa Bartlett. "We showed a lot of fighting spirit and resilience and those are the things we need to continue to develop for long-term success. We learned a lot from that match."
 
The visitors in maroon got off to a 7-2 lead in the first, but the Mustangs were determined to fight back. A long rally ending in a McMaster error looked to keep the 'Stangs back in this one at 9-5.
 
McMaster continued to pile on the pressure however, eventually doubling up on the purple and white at 14-7, with the Mustangs taking their second timeout of the set at 16-7 moments later.
 
Captain Kate Van Camp checked into the game getting a kill to put the Mustangs behind by 9 at 19-10. Van Camp then went to the service line where she helped her team win the next two points.
 
With the Marauders sitting at set-point at 24-17, a visitor error alongside a Janelle Albert ace, and Van Camp kill prevented them from taking it easily. They couldn't complete the comeback however, eventually dropping the first set 25-20.
 
The second set proved to be a lot closer at the start.  
 
The team's exchanged points to start the second, with an Ebert kill electrifying the crowd to put the 'Stangs up 4-3, which she followed up with an ace moments later to tie things up at 6-6.
 
Looking to build off of the late first-set momentum, the purple and white won three consecutive points to take the lead at 9-8. McMaster stayed on Western's heels however, as they kept tying things up with neither team being able to generate a significant lead.
 
Despite saving set-point twice yet again, it would be the visitors who were able to take a lead and extend it, eventually claiming the second set 25-18.

"One thing I always say is 'eyes up'," said captain Kate Van Camp on keeping her team motivated. "Volleyball is such a mental sport so it's really easy to look down [if you mess up] and not connect with your teammates, so eyes up, come together as a team, let's make a change for the next point and hopefully it works."
 
"A big thing we focus on is playing in the present," echoed Bartlett. "How we cue our team to do that is saying 'look across the net' so you're not focusing on the situation or the score but looking at your opponents and making good decisions."
 
With players coming in off the bench, the third set is when Western truly found their groove.
 
"We had to use a couple different variations in our lineup and that can be challenging, but that's the reality of the season," said Bartlett. "We have a lot of players that can contribute, and we had to adapt and found a lineup that worked in set three."
 
In this do-or-die set for the purple and white, the team rallied behind an Ebert serve to take the lead at 5-3.
 
"As a team we know we can fight harder than what we were giving in the first two sets," said Van Camp. "Those talks we had with Melissa and the bench helped us get into that mindset of knowing Western volleyball is way more than what we were putting out. It was that flip of a switch."
 
With London native Lindsay Kleuskens at the service line, the Mustangs were able to win the next three points for an 11-7 lead, with Kleuskens adding an ace to her name in the process.
 
The 'Stangs looked to have found their rhythm, extending their lead to seven at a 17-10 score with a Devin Gerth kill and an Albert ace eliciting whistles and loud supportive applause from the crowd as the visitors called timeout.
 
Rallying behind an Ebert serve, kills by Gerth and Brach helped put the Mustangs in the driver's seat at 20-11.
 
With Kleuskens back serving, her ace set up set-point for the Mustangs as they took the third set 25-14.
 
In similar fashion to the rest of the game, the two sides exchanged points to start the set with things being tied at 5-5, before McMaster found a small lead at 9-5.
 
Some visitor errors and Jaeya Brach kills alongside a huge block by Ebert helped tie things up at 14, with another Marauder error handing the lead to Western at 15-14.
 
With things tied at 24, Western stuck together to produce a finish to the set that sent the crowd to their feet.
 
With McMaster sitting on match point, a massive Ebert kill had things tied at 25. Another match-point for the visitors would be saved by a Brach kill, followed by a Gerth block that had Western at set-point at 27-26.
 
With the deafening crowd behind them, the purple and white were finally able to close this one out at 29-27 off of a block.  
 
"Melissa did a great job of pulling players off the bench, and I think our team is so deep that we have a great bench to do that with," said Van Camp. "She made some changes, and even in serve receive our libero Maddie does a great job at making changes when needed. Our bench did a great job of maintaining a consistent energy all the way through which helped push us."
 
Looking to complete the comeback and riding the momentum with the crowd behind them, the Mustangs got off to a 2-1 start, before the visitors developed a small lead at 7-4. Despite saving off two match-points, the comeback fell short for the Mustangs as McMaster took the decider 15-12.
 
"Tonight proved that we have so much potential as a team," said Van Camp. "McMaster is a well-rounded team and it's always a good fight. We are going to have to have a really solid week of practices this week [as we prepare to head on the road]."
 
The team will head on their first road trip of the season next weekend to Toronto to take on York in a weekend series.
 
"We are really excited," said Bartlett. "A lot of these girls have never had a regular OUA season road game because of COVID, so that's a fun situation in and of itself. York is a veteran team, so it'll be great."

The Mustangs will hit the road next week to take on York, with the first game being on November 18^th at 8pm.