London, ON – For their last game at Alumni Hall in the regular season, the Mustangs hosted McMaster in an eventual 3-1 win with their senior’s taking centre stage.
Prior to the game, the graduating seniors of the team were recognized and celebrated in a ceremony with family and friends watching on alongside the Western community. Concluding their time at Western and those recognized pre-game were opposite and captain Kate Van Camp, libero Maddie Bowles, middle blockers Megan Rising and Lindsay Kleuskens, and outside hitters Janelle Albert and Jaeya Brach.
W?? The annual tradition of celebrating our graduating seniors was part of a pregame ceremony for the @stangswvb tonight.
Thank you to: Janelle Albert Meagan Rising Kate Van Camp Maddie Bowles Lindsay Kleuskens Jaeya Brach
“Out of all the seniors I’ve been on the team the longest so [it’s nice] being able to finally experience this and go through this with our amazing group of girls,” said captain Kate Van Camp. “The other girls did a great job supporting us and made us feel appreciated. Senior Night is an emotional day and emotions are high, you aren’t sure what’s going to happen and I thought we stuck together as a team.”
“It’s an emotional day. I can genuinely say for each and every one of them I am going to miss them so much and so will their teammates,” added head coach Melissa Bartlett. “Today is special because we get to recognize what they brought to the team and the things they do that make them unique as a teammate. We have team traditions in the team room, do something before the game, and it’s all great fun. Getting a win on top of it is a bonus.”
Western took the opening set 26-24 before dropping the second 25-22. The Mustangs bounced back, taking the final two sets 25-18 and 25-16. Janelle Albert had 22 kills and 3 aces in the win, while Jaeya Brach and Devin Gerth followed with 9 and 8 kills respectively.
Expectedly considering the similar record shared between the two sides, the Mustangs and Marauders went point for point to start the first set, as this game sat tied at 12 early on.
“There’s a little [extra pressure starting],” said Van Camp about the senior’s starting the first set. “There are some girls that haven’t played much this year that were on the first set, and everyone did such a good job holding themselves together. I was so proud of Megan [Rising]. She really stepped up and I was really happy for her.”
With graduating player Jaeya Brach serving, a kill from fellow graduate Janelle Albert alongside some errors from the visitors would see the first 3-point lead of the game go to Western as they sat ahead 15-12 while McMaster called timeout.
The Hamilton-based side was quick to tie things up yet again at 16, as the two team’s continued to exchange points keeping this set close.
Sitting tied at 23, Albert gave the ‘Stangs set point, but in familiar fashion the Marauders tied things right back up. Errors from McMaster eventually handed the set to the purple and white at 26-24.
W??l END OF 1ST SET
The Mustangs take a close opening set 26-24 over McMaster. Janelle Albert leads Western with 8 kills.
With the energy and volume levels in the gym continuing to rise alongside this hotly contested match, the Marauders came out winning the first two points.
After finding themselves down 2-0 to start the second, an ace from Albert gave Western their first lead of the set moments later at 3-2.
The Marauders took 11 of the next 17 points to claim the widest gap of the match thus far at 13-9, causing the purple and white to call timeout as they looked to regroup.
McMaster won the next two points, extending their lead, before a Brach kill got Western their tenth point of the set while cutting their deficit to five.
Finding themselves down six at 19-13, Western’s fighting spirit came out on full display as they clawed back 20-18, limiting McMaster to one point in the process.
A strong effort from libero Maddie Bowles finished off by Albert proceeded to bring the purple and white within one, but they would ultimately drop the set 25-22.
W??l END OF 2ND SET
The Mustangs drop this set to McMaster 25-22. Janelle Albert has 16 kills and 1 service ace throughout the first two sets for Western.
Ava Ebert electrified the crowd with a powerful strike to kick-start the third, while another ace from Albert followed it up adding to the echoing noise throughout the gym.
“All of us wanted to go into today with no expectations and just go have fun as a team. We obviously game-planned hard, McMaster is a good team, but we just wanted to have fun and enjoy our night,” said Van Camp.
With Western up by nine, the Marauders would get their first point of the set off of a Mustang error. The visitors then took eight of the next 12 points to reduce their deficit at 13-9.
With Devin Gerth making an impact off the bench, the ‘Stangs went on a run to claim a seven-point lead at 22-15 with the win in reach. Another kill from Albert gave Western set-point before they claimed the set 25-18.
W??l END OF 3RD SET
The Mustangs take this one 25-18 over the Marauders! Janelle Albert continues to lead Western with 20 kills while Jaeya Brach follows with 9.
The two sides exchanged points to start the fourth set, as things sat tied at 9 early on. The ‘Stangs took the next three consecutive points to build a small lead, looking to close out this match in four.
“One of the things we did see was perseverance and grit,” said Bartlett on her team’s performance. “We’ve fallen into a pattern where we perform well in the first set and then go flat in set two. We did that a bit tonight. In set four we were still able to maintain that level of execution so that was a step forward mentally for us as we go into playoffs.”
Kills from Gerth and an ace from Ebert helped the purple and white go up by seven over McMaster at 18-11. The Mustangs went on to take the set 25-16 and the match along with it.
W??l FINAL SCORE
The Mustangs win this one 3-1 over McMaster with a final 25-16 score in the fourth set. Janelle Albert had 22 kills for Western.
Western returns to action on Feb. 18th at Nipissing for a 12pm match.
“That’s a playoff caliber team in [McMaster] and possibly an OUA final four team. So to come together and execute our gameplan was fantastic,” said Bartlett.
“It just shows we are up there and we can compete. Going into playoffs, McMaster is going to be one of those teams we meet in the final four,” added Van Camp. “Showing we can beat them in four sets proves we can do it and go all the way. It’s great confidence for us as a team.”
With the win Western improves to 15-3 on the season while McMaster drops to 13-4. The Mustangs now turn their focus to their final series of the regular season next weekend as they travel to North Bay to face the Lakers.
“Nipissing could be a team fighting for a last playoff spot, so they are going to be really hungry,” concluded Bartlett. “We have a long road trip to get there and it’s a team we haven’t played in years because of COVID, so it’ll be all brand new players. It’s the same as every week – we will prepare and get to know them well so we are confident when we take the court.”
The Mustangs will conclude the regular season on the road next week in a weekend series against Nipissing. The first game will be on February 18th at 12pm, with the action available to watch on OUA.tv