Western Mustangs Fall to Queens Gaels

The Western Mustangs took on the Queens Gaels yesterday afternoon in front of a home crowd. Despite fantastic effort from the Mustangs on the court, the Gaels went on to win 3-0 over the Mustangs. 
 
A short serve from Queens puts Western on the board first. The Gaels quickly equalize. The next point sees Devin Gerth make a huge dig to save the ball. It is then sent out of bounds by the Gaels putting the Mustangs ahead again. The Mustangs maintain a point lead early in this first set. A kill from Ava Ebert puts the Mustangs two ahead. The Gaels equalize with the Mustangs at 10-10 but a short serve from Queens puts Western back in the lead. Queens pushes ahead in the points for the first time in the set after a ball goes out of bounds off the hands of the Mustangs. The Mustangs call for a timeout as Queens pushes into the lead. Despite winning the first point coming out of the timeout, two service aces from Lael Harrison fire up the crowd in Alumni Hall. A kill from Devin Gerth brings the Mustangs within one of the Gaels. A timeout is called as the Gaels come within six of the first set win. The Mustangs win the first point coming out of the timeout. Despite the Mustangs putting pressure on the Gaels, they come within one point of the set win. A kill that finds the far-right corner puts the final score at 25-19 to the Gaels. 
 
A double block from Claire Stewart and Jade Longlad wins the first point for the Mustangs. They push ahead by two points after the Gaels can’t get a ball over the net on the second point. A kill that finds the far right-hand corner of the court puts the Gaels on the board. A block from Claire Stewart puts the Mustangs three ahead of the Gaels. A timeout is called by the Gaels after a good start to the second set by the Mustangs. A kill from Lael Harrison and an attacking error from the Gaels puts Western six points ahead of the Gaels. A kill from Ava Ebert adds another point to the Mustangs’ score. Despite Queens putting the pressure on the Mustangs, Western maintains their point lead into the middle of the set. A timeout is called by Western as Queens comes within two points. The teams equalize at 16-16nbut a ball sent out of bounds by queens puts the Mustangs back ahead. A block from Gerth puts the Mustangs within six of the set win. Queens push ahead by one coming within five. As Queen’s push within four of the set win, Western calls for a timeout. A ball set by Hannah Joo and tipped over the net by Devin Gerth wins the first point coming out of the timeout. As Queens come within one of the set win, a long serve puts another point on the board for the Mustangs. A block from Jade Longlad and Claire Stewart equalizes the points at 24-24, a testament to the determination of the Mustangs. This pushes the set into extra points. Queens take the second set 26-24. 
 
An error from the Gaels puts Western on the board first but a kill that finds the far end of the court puts Queens on the board. Queens maintain a slight point lead early into the third set. A ball that goes out of bounds off the fingertips of a Gael brings the Mustangs within two points. The two teams equalize at 5-5 but Queens push ahead back in the points. The Mustangs push back into the lead, causing Queens to call for a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Western win the first point. Queens gain some momentum, closing the point gap to two. After a long rally with both teams making big digs to keep the ball alive, the Mustangs are sent a free ball and Devin Gerth gets a huge kill, firing up the crowd. A block from Western that finds an empty spot on Queens’ side, puts the team two ahead of the Gaels. The Mustangs maintain a point advantage late into the third set but the Gaels are not far behind. A contested service ace from Queens equalizes the score at 18-18. The Mustangs call for a timeout. A kill from Queens puts them within three of the set win. An attacking error from the Mustangs puts the Gaels within one of the game win. Queens wins the game with a third set score of 25-20. 
 
After the game, Melissa Bartlett explained “yeah, they’re a very good team and we felt like we were in control for good portions of the match, but our execution let us down in the last 15-20%. So, that’s something to learn from and reflect on but overall, we played pretty well. There are a couple elements of our game plan that we can sharpen up for tomorrow”. She went on to say “it was a defensive focus for the week because one of their strengths is their offensive diversity. Shout out to both of our middles, played tremendously – Claire Stewart’s blocking kept us in it at points there. I don’t know how many blocks she had but she was a really strong force for us at the net but yeah, we’ve just got to play smarter towards the end is something we discuss as a team, and we’ll see if we can accomplish that tomorrow”. 

The team will meet with the Queens Gaels again today at 2:00pm in Alumni Hall. Catch the action on OUA.tv.