London, ON – The Mustangs Men’s Volleyball team took a straight sets (3-0) win over McMaster for the first time since 2008 on Saturday afternoon.
“There were times tonight when it looked like we might not get a set win and our guys pulled through and took those wins and I’m so pleased with our guys for that,” said Mustangs Head Coach Jim Sage “At the end of the second set and into the third I thought we played our best ball of the weekend,”
The Mustangs secured the win on a special night for the program as they honoured former Head Coach and local volleyball legend Vaughan Peckham, who passed away in late April, with a pre-game ceremony.
“It was really special to get a win tonight, I didn’t think I would get as emotional as I did but when I looked over and saw Mark, his son, and the whole family there, to have his grandchildren there to see what he meant to all of us was so special,” said Sage.
GAME RECAP
Western continued their impressive offensive output from Friday night to start the game on Saturday, as they would go out to a 12-7 lead and force McMaster to call their first timeout. McMaster would turn things around and cut the Western lead to three at 19-16 later in the set. Western would rebound and finish out the opening set win on a Cade Smith kill and win 25-21.
M?? END OF 1ST SET The opening set goes the ?? & ?? way, 25-21 and Western has the lead.
The second set started with the Marauders making an early charge up the scoreboard, doubling the Mustangs at 8-4. Western charged back to tighten the scoring, cutting the McMaster lead to 14-12. After a Western 6-2 run, the Mustangs found themselves in the lead at 18-17. Western kept the pace going and finished off the second set win at 25-19.
M?? END OF 2ND SET Make it two in a row for the Mustangs as they win the set 25-19.
The third set was tight throughout the opening half of the set. The highlight for the Mustangs was a 4-0 run that included a Michael Jones ace that hit the net and just fluttered over the net, and the Mustangs were up 12-9. After McMaster went on a four-point run in the middle of the set, Western shot right back with a 5-1 run to take a 19-16 advantage. Western would finish out the straight-set win after both teams traded the last nine points of the night, and Western won 25-22.
“The heart stopped for a little bit there, felt like I just needed to give it a little extra breath to get it to fall over,” said Jones of his ace “I was just hoping it out trickle over, and it did, which was awesome,”
NEXT GAME
Western is headed north next weekend for a pair of games against the Nipissing Lakers, starting Friday night at 8:00pm. Fans can watch the action on OUA.tv.
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