London, ON – Coming off of a dominant win last night in Waterloo, the Mustangs returned home Saturday for an afternoon tilt against the Warriors at Alumni Hall.
After losing in straight sets last night, Waterloo started the set with new tenacity while on a search for revenge. After starting the set down two points, Western quickly tied it up at 3 a piece thanks to a Jaeya Brach serve, and a Janelle Albert kill. The purple and white would go on to lose the next 4 points but weren’t out of the set just yet.
After a timeout was taken by Western coach Melissa Bartlett at 9-4, the purple and white re-grouped and began to string some points together. A long rally saved by a Kate Van Camp dig saw the Mustangs begin to climb back as they searched for their first lead.
Toronto native Lauren Pastor followed it up with a desperate dig, that Albert reached to tip over, eliciting loud cheers from the bench and home crowd.
“So many people came out and supported us, the crowd was so amazing,” said Jaeya Brach. “Just being able to feed off of that was such a good feeling.”
“I had goosebumps right from the start of warm up just seeing the stands full,” added head coach Melissa Bartlett.
Albert and middle Claire Stewart then combined for a big block, as the home team now only saw themselves 2 behind their opponents at 14-12. Two more points by Albert and a Warriors error would see the two teams tied at 15 a piece.
The sides continued to trade points, with big kills from Stewart and Lexi Iggulden and a dig by Albert contributing to the Mustangs score. Western still hadn’t found a lead but were never more than 2 behind the visitors before tying it up again.
“We came together in the huddle, looked at each other in the eyes and knew we were all there supporting each other, and knew we could do it,” said Brach. “We knew that we had to do it.”
Albert produced a big kill, and then followed it up with a serve and then dug the return, as Brach cleaned it up to claim Western’s first lead at 24-23, giving them set-point. The Mustangs won the set right after thanks to Brach, leaving them with 2 sets left to win.
Brach stayed hot as her ace started a 2-1 lead for the purple and white in the second set.
Like the first set however, the teams kept trading points throughout the first half as neither could build a significant lead on the other. Western found themselves down 16-15 at the technical timeout but would tie it up once again right after.
As Van Camp stepped to the service line, Pastor and Stewart put up big blocks, followed by a spike by Brach that now put the Mustangs up 19-17.
A big block by Van Camp gave Western set point yet again, with Brach going to the line, which then saw the Mustangs promptly win the set.
Van Camp started the third set with a big kill, as a win remained within reach for Western. The Mustangs continued to win a couple points off of a Van Camp serve, going up 6-2.
Although they tried, Waterloo could not mount a comeback and took a timeout with the score at 12-8. Iggulden then promptly supplied a big kill and then stepped up to serve, with a point being won by Stewart for a now 15-9 score.
Two big kills by Albert after the technical timeout put the Mustangs in the driver’s seat. An ace gave the Mustangs match-point, which they ultimately secured with a 25-21 third set win. Western is now 2-0 to start the season.
“The girls really showed up today,” said Bartlett. “Coming into today we knew they were going to be more prepared for us, and they did make some key adjustments, and I thought we responded really well. We came in today knowing that they’re a very strong team, a very experienced team, and expected them to put up a good fight and they did.”
“We just wanted to come out and do the same thing we did last night,” added Brach.
The Mustangs will return to the court next weekend for a 3-game homestand against Lakehead, and will look to their depth to help them.
“We are happy to be home for three straight,” said Bartlett. “We’re really excited for next weekend and feel that we are going to be able to give everyone some opportunity to play against Lakehead who can be really challenging.”
The first match is on Friday November 26th at 6pm at Alumni Hall.
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