Mustangs end 4-game losing streak with 3-0 win over Lancers

London, ON – For their final regular season home game, the Mustangs defeated Windsor in straight sets to break a 4-game losing streak.

Sporting the number 13 on their left calves in honour of teammate Brooklyn Bere as Senior’s Night made its way to Alumni Hall, the purple and white channelled lots of energy from the lucky number and came out firing and ready to get back in the win column.

“My teammates all branded themselves with 13 on their calves which was really cute, so it was nice to be the only one but a little bit bitter-sweet knowing that I have to leave and that there were so many tough times along the way,” said Bere on the surprise gesture from her teammates and being the lone graduate. “Apparently its sharpie so hopefully they can rub it off!”

Before the match, a ceremony was held to honour both the men’s and women’s volleyball seniors who are set to graduate after this season. For the women, setter Bere would be the lone honouree as she was recognized for her contributions to the Mustangs program over the years in front of supporters, family, friends, and teammates.

“It was really nice,” said Bere. “It’s been a tough 4 years given that COVID happened. It’s sad to be the only senior, we had a lot of people who had to drop off along the way because of COVID, but it was a nice culmination of all my time at university and all the time it took to get here so it was sweet.”

“Brooklyn has been not only a tremendous player but a great teammate. She’s a good role model for the younger players, I know a lot of players really look up to her,” commented head coach Melissa Bartlett on Bere. “She takes any role we give her. She’s played such a key support role in every year she’s played, so we’re really proud of her and happy to celebrate her career tonight.”

After the celebration and with the first set underway, Janelle Albert would start things off for the Mustangs with her first of 18 kills, electrifying the home crowd of supporters and parents.

Bere would put the Mustangs up 8-7, while a Jaeya Brach block and Albert kill would help extend the lead at 14-10.

The first set proved to be the closest of the three, with the ‘Stangs ultimately taking it 25-20.

Riding their first set momentum, the purple and white got off to a blazing 7-1 opening in the second. Western would build their strong start into a 16-9 lead at the technical timeout.

Despite saving off two set points, the Lancers couldn’t find a way back into the set as Western claimed it convincingly 25-14.

Rallying behind a Claire Stewart serve, Western put up 5 points on the board before the Lancers got one of their own. Stewart would end the night with 5 aces to her name.

Kills from Albert would help extend the lead to 9-2, as Lauren Pastor prepared to serve. A big dig from Emily Tsiandoulas and a later kill helped to make it 12-5 as the Mustangs remained in the driver’s seat.

“It was tough losing the last 4 games in a row, but one thing we have been able to do is execute our game plan. This week we wanted to play offense really well and I think you could see that in the game,” said Bere. “We had some tough first and second balls, but all the hitters did a good job of hitting the ball over with pace and making sure we won the points no matter what the dig or set looked like.”

After the technical timeout which had the Mustangs ahead with a score of 16-12, Western began to run away with the game, ultimately taking the third and final set 25-14 with a backdrop of motivational claps from the stands to cheer them on.

“Awesome resilience and rebound from 4 disappointing matches against a gritty Windsor team,” said Bartlett. “I’m really proud of the composure we showed. We tried some different lineups, and the players stepped out and responded so that was really exciting.”

With the regular season soon coming to a close, this win proves to be vital for the team as they look ahead to a long post-season run.

“We’re healthy for the first time this semester as a full team and now it’s just about getting rhythm and getting to where we want to be which is playing our best for the playoffs,” added Bartlett. “We do think that our best volleyball is ahead of us and that’s where we want it to be.”

Western improves to 6-4 on the season with the win.

The Mustangs are back action on Sunday, Feb. 27, as they travel to Windsor to face the Lancers for the second time this weekend. The game is set to start at 2pm and is available to watch on OUA.tv