Western Mustangs Defeat the Queens Gaels 3-0 in Last Regular Season Game

The Western Mustangs took on the Queens Gaels in their second match of the week. After falling 3-2 to the Gaels yesterday, the Mustangs went on to win three-straight sets today in front of their home crowd for a thrilling final regular season game. Five seniors were also recognized at the beginning of the game: Blake Fenwick, Josiah Esau, Owen Kelly, Jason Guy, and Amit Sayal. 
 
The Mustangs get on the scoreboard first. They push ahead slightly in the points. Kills from Blake Fenwick puts the team three points ahead of the Gaels but a short serve from Western gives the serve back to Queens. The Gaels equalize at 8-8. The Gaels briefly push ahead in the points but a long serve from them gives the point right back to Western. Jonah Millard gets a fantastic dig to keep the ball in play, allowing Blake Fenwick to get a kill, putting the Mustangs ahead. Blake Fenwick keeps the ball in play with a one-handed dig with Western winning the point and firing up the lively crowd in Alumni Hall. A kill that finds the far-right corner of the court puts Queens ahead in the points and six away from the set win. A kill from Cameron McGregor equalizes the points at 19-19. The teams continue to swap points into the later part of the set. As Western get within one point of the set win, Queens call for a timeout. Josiah Esau gets a service ace to win the opening set for Western. The final set score sits at 25-22. 
 
A long serve from Queens wins the first point for Western in the second set. Western get an early point lead but the score is quickly equalizes by the Gaels. Service errors from Queens put the Mustangs back in the lead. An attacking error by Queens puts the Mustangs three ahead of the Gaels and forcing them into a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Josiah Esau gets a huge dig to keep the ball alive, allowing Blake Fenwick to get a kill. Kendall Homenick adds to the scoreboard for Western. Jonah Millard gets two service aces, forcing Queens into a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Western secure the first point which further increases their point lead over the Gaels. Josiah Esau tips the ball over to find an empty spot on the court which fires up the bench. Queens start to put pressure on the Mustangs but a triple block from Jonah Millard, Cameron McGregor, and Josiah Esau puts the team within four of the set win. Jonah Millard brings the Mustangs within one point of the set win as he finds an empty spot in the court. A kill from Blake Fenwick secures the second set for the Mustangs with a score of 25-16. 
 
Queens take the first point of the third set. a service ace from Jonah Millard and a block from Kendall Homenick work to equalize the score at 4-4 after an early point lead by Queens. A tip over the net from Queens puts the Gaels back into the lead. A block from Cameron McGregor, Jonah Millard, and Cade Smith equalizes the points at 8-8. A block that goes out of bounds off the Queens block puts Western back in the lead. Miscommunication between the Gaels wins the next point for the Mustangs. After an attacking error from Queens puts Western in the lead and they are able to push ahead by three points which causes Queens to call for a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Queens take the first point. a kill from Jonah Millard brings the team within five points of the set win. Blake Fenwick sends a ball into the Queens block where it goes out of bounds. This brings the team within two points of the set win and forcing Queens into a timeout. A ball sent out of bounds by Queens puts Western within one of the game win. 
 
After the game, Head Coach Jim Sage explained that “what an interesting feeling. We talked it last night – we don’t know what was going to show up today after a long five-setter. Our meeting before was very jovial … yeah, I was really proud of them. I thought some of our younger guys that are stepping up on the court, like Cameron McGregor was amazing. That’s a second-year player playing a high intensity match and he’s thriving. I thought Cade was pretty good on the right side as well. Two second year guys in our line-up for seniors and I should call out those other seniors whose spots they’re taking and how amazing they are as teammates to not take it internally and feel ‘why am I not out there’ – they just help those guys feel calm because they’re so supportive. Definitely call out to all those seniors who make that possible”. In coming into today’s game Coach Sage explained that they were looking to make “minor, little tweaks. We thought we had a good game plan and we decided to execute it a little bit more. I thought we cleaned up our serving a little bit and it gave us a chance to score some points”. 
 
The team is looking ahead to playoffs next week. Catch the action on OUA.tv.