London, ON - Returning home for their first match at Alumni Hall of the 2022 calendar year, the Mustangs fell 3-1 to a strong Marauders side.  
 
Western and McMaster faced off earlier in the week, with the Marauders taking the contest in straight sets. McMaster is currently undefeated and ranked among the nation's best. Despite this, the Mustangs began with their strongest set of the season, not taking the return to play after an extended layoff lightly.
 
"The most important thing [during the time off] was staying focused and getting geared so that when we do get back, its 100%, and we've really tried our best to do that," said Jonah Millard. "I think it was the mental more than physical for staying ready."
 
Kills from captain Amit Sayal started the set off for Western, giving them a slight 4-3 lead against their opponent. It didn't take long for McMaster to tie it up at 8, however. Big blocks from Josia Esau would help the purple and white reclaim the lead at 14-13, which they would then extend by 3.
 
"They are a big team, we didn't have a great showing at McMaster, but I think today we played our best set of volleyball this year," said Millard. "We showed them we can hang with them."
 
The Western bench continued to erupt into electric cheers as they extended their lead against the first-place side, with Blake Fenwick putting the 'Stangs up 21-16. A few service errors would help out McMaster, but it wouldn't be enough as a service error of their own set up set-point for the Mustangs, which Sayal gladly finished off.
 
"We managed our risk, and serve received much better and gave our setter options, and had them on their heels a little bit," said coach Jim Sage. "It was probably our best set of the year."
 
It didn't take long for a Marauder response, as they took hold of the second early on with a 5-1 lead. The score read 16-11 at the technical timeout.
 
Despite their efforts, Western couldn't climb back into it as McMaster tied it at 1 set apiece with a 25-15 win.
 
"We knew they were going to jump back at us," said Sage. "I don't know if our guys were ready for the second set, and then it was just hard to maintain."
 
After exchanging the first two points, Western was on the winning end of a long rally for the 2-1 lead, and came out victorious thanks to strong play from Jackson Bere, Owen Kelly, and Fenwick.
 
The teams would continue to exchange points until midway through the set, when the visitors started to take control. They would force a Western timeout as the scoreboard read 19-12. The Marauders claimed the set 25-15.  
 
Having found their groove, McMaster got off to a similar start in the deciding set. The Mustangs refused to give up, as a Fenwick ace followed by another return that McMaster hit wide tied it up for the purple and white at 4 a piece.
 
A hard-fought battle fell short for Western as they dropped the fourth set 25-17, ultimately losing the game with it.
 
"I think we know what we need to improve on. It's pretty apparent," said Millard. "We are going to go and practice and say that every single rep in practice, every serve, every pass, every block, it's all important."
 
"They played much better than on Thursday," added Sage. "It was a step in the right direction for sure."
 
The purple and white drop to 2-4 on the season and will look to next weekend as the playoff race heats up.

The Mustangs next take on the Guelph Gryphons Friday, February 18^th, at Alumni Hall at 7pm.