London, ON – In their first game of a weekend series against the visiting Guelph Gryphons, the Mustangs took a convincing 4-1 lead in front of the home crowd at Alumni Hall.
With both teams sitting on two wins and four points on the season, the match proved to be a close one as the race to make the post-season heats up. While the Mustangs dropped the thriller first set, they needed no time to take control over the match.
Both teams came to play in the first, and despite losing the opening point, the Mustangs refused to let Guelph get ahead early. After a powerful strike from Jackson Bere to tie it up at 4, the teams would continue to exchange points, with neither team taking more than a one point lead until the Badgers went up 19-17.
Rallying behind captain Amit Sayal’s serve while down 23-22, the purple and white were able to get set-point at 24-23, which the Gryphons fought off. The teams continued to go back and forth, but Western couldn’t find a way to finish it off as the visitors took the first set 30-28.
“The first set could’ve gone either way. It was exciting,” said coach Jim Sage. “But I was worried about my guys’ mentality after the first set because it was such a devastating loss. We had a bunch of game points to win it, and then they’re on the bench looking rattled. I said calm down, relax, and we’ll be just fine.”
Rather than letting the close first set loss get them down, Western listened to their coach and used it as fuel.
“The players overall had a calm composure,” said libero Owen Kelly. “We knew that we were a good enough team to take them for the next three sets.”
Jonah Millard came out with a powerful kill to start the second set, as the Mustangs looked to even it up after the close opening frame. The purple and white would extend their lead to 3-0 before the Gryphons finally got themselves on the board.
The set mirrored the first with long rallies and a close score until the Mustangs took control and ran away with it.
The first substantial lead of the set would be for Western at the technical timeout where they led 16-12, while looking to take control of the rest of the set.
Josh Thorson continued his strong run of play and put up a big block and later kill to extend the lead even more, while simultaneously sending the bench and home crowd into electrifying cheers.
Sayal claimed the set for the Mustangs at 25-16 with an ace.
Tied at a set a piece, the third was another close battle to get in front.
Starting right where he left off, Sayal got the Mustangs off to an early 2-0 lead in the third. As the visitors came back to tie it up, points from Thorson reclaimed for the lead for Western at 6-5.
With the scoreboard reading 10 for each team, the purple and white would string together three consecutive points to get a good hold on the set.
Western’s strong play proved to be too much for Guelph, as Western continued to dominate the game while taking the third 25-19, with Kelly helping to get the best out of his team.
“Owen passed a lot, and that’s so important to our team. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but he knows it. He really played a full four sets,” said Sage. “You can see how good Jackson [Bere] and Jonah [Millard] are if we pass.”
A blaze of energy shot through the Mustangs bench to start the fourth thanks to a powerful kill from Sayal, putting the Mustangs in a good position to finish the match off in the fourth.
Guelph wasn’t ready to pack their bags just yet however, as they managed to close the deficit at 10-9, and tie it up on the next point. The eventually got their chance to play with the lead as they got in front of Western at 15-14.
Putting their determination on display, the purple and white managed to tie it up themselves, keeping it a close match until taking back the lead at 20-19 thanks to a cheeky tip from Bere and an error from the visiting Gryphons.
Bere would finish off the game for Western at 25-21, claiming the victory in four sets.
“I was happy with everyone on our teams play,” said Kelly. “I think we feed off of each other when we play well. We know that when we make mistakes our teammates are going to back us up.”
The Mustangs now improve to 3-4 on the season, while Guelph drops to 2-6. It’s a quick turnaround for both teams before they face off again in two days time.
The Mustangs are back in action on Sunday as they welcome Guelph to Alumni Hall once again. The game starts at 4pm, with tickets being available to purchase at https://westernmustangstickets.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=1564&p=1
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