The Western Mustangs defeat the York Lions in the fifth set to take the win

The Western Mustangs came back from a loss to the York Lions on Friday to take the game 2-3 on Saturday. The Mustangs won the first two sets with the Lions taking the next two, but the fifth set gave the win to the Mustangs. 
 
York served first with a short serve giving the point straight to the Mustangs. The Lions equalise points a few moments later after a long rally results in the Lions placing the ball in the far right hand corner of the court where the Mustangs are not able to reach. 
 
A block from Jonah Millard goes off the hands of a York player and out of bounds making the score 8-5 to Western. The Lions kept a few points behind the Mustangs throughout the first set but kills from Kendall Homenick and Jason Guy keep the Mustangs ahead in points. 
 
A serve from Blake Fenwick puts the Mustangs within two of the set win as the ball is received by Robert Kemp from the Lions but sends it out of bounds. 
 
Kendall Homenick serves with one point to go in the first set. The ball goes off the hands of a York player and out of bounds giving the Mustangs the first set with a 18-25 score. 
 
A double block from Kendall Homenick and Amit Sayal gives the Mustangs the first point in the second set. 
 
The Lions get a point lead after a serve falls gently over the net with no Mustangs able to get to it. Blake Fenwick finds an empty space in the far-right corner of the court pushing the Mustangs five points ahead. A few points later, a service ace from Luca Stojanovic pushes the Mustangs 8 points ahead. A block from Kendall Homenick and Blake Fenwick puts the team within 5 points of the set win. 
 
Amit Sayal sends a ball straight into the far-left corner of the court landing at the feet of Jasraj Nijjar from the Lions who is unable to return it giving the Mustangs the second set win with the final score being 15-25. 
 
The Mustangs get an early lead in the third set after Amit Sayal sends the ball flying towards the York players where it goes off their fingers and out of bounds. The Lions found their stride in the third set winning more points after consistently blocking the Mustangs’ attack. 
 
The Lions call a time out after the Mustangs push two points ahead. They come out of the timeout with determination as they push ahead in the points towards the end of the set. They win with a 25-22 score making the sets 2-1 to the Mustangs. 
 
A kill from Amit Sayal pushes the Mustangs to a one point lead early in the fourth set. The two teams trade points much like in the third set. A few moments later, the Lions push ahead with a two-point lead, but a long serve reduces the difference to one. A York serve is received by Cade Smith where it goes off his hands and out of bounds making the score 17-21. The Mustangs slowly work to close the point difference gap after a kill from Jonah Millard sends the ball in the middle of the court with York players diving for it but unable to save it. Despite the work by the Mustangs in the late half of the set, the Lions take the set win 25-21 making the score 2-2. 
 
The Mustangs come into the fifth set with energy helped by the support of the crowd in Alumni Hall. A kill from Amit Sayal goes off the hands of a York player, going out of bounds which pushes the team to a 3-2 lead. York responds by tipping the ball over the net to equalise. A few points later, both teams work to keep the ball alive with digs from York, but the Mustangs end up winning the point. A double block then pushes the mustangs to 6-11. A few moments later, the ball goes off the hands of the York Lions and out of bounds giving the Mustangs the win with a final set score of 6-15. 
 
The team met with York on Friday as well and when asked if the team had made any adjustments from Friday to Saturday Head Coach Jim Sage explained that “yeah a little bit. We went into that third set and then we lost it and then the momentum in the match was switched on. It had me seriously worried. The fifth set is a different ball game. On so many different occasions you’ll see that exact thing happen and it was almost like a dial so yeah, we’ve got to address it, we’ve got to be better. We should take that in three, but we didn’t and I’m proud of the guys that they stuck it out.” After the fourth set, the team regrouped and Sage went on to say, “I try to clear their minds and go ‘everybody’s got to make a good play, everybody’s got to make a good play not him, not just one – everybody and then collectively as a team we should be okay’. Then we got the momentum back and it was so strange then they couldn’t do anything right and then before it was everything we did was wrong.” Looking ahead to December 1^st when the team will play their next game against Nipissing, Coach Sage said “we’re just going to go a good couple weeks of practice, push them. Nipissing is a good team that we’ll have to be ready for.”