London, ON – The Mustangs concluded their weekend series against the Brock Badgers on Saturday afternoon, falling in four sets to the Badgers.
Western took home an important 3-0 win against the Badgers on Friday night, which they were unable to replicate as they dropped the first set 25-22, third 25-23 and the fourth 25-20. The Mustangs won the second set 28-26. Blake Fenwick led Western with 14 kills while Amit Sayal followed with 13.
“It didn’t go very well,” said head coach Jim Sage on the game. “We are in this together. I am just as guilty. [You have to look at] what can I do better?”
The Mustangs took the opening point in the game as they began their hunt for a winning weekend.
M??l START OF 1ST SET
First-serve is underway at Alumni Hall as the Mustangs take on the Badgers once again.
After the team’s kept things close to start as a big kill from Jonah Millard tied things up at five, the ‘Stangs built a three-point lead behind a Blake Fenwick serve.
The visitors in red continued to push-back, before a powerful kill from Fenwick put the ‘Stangs up 15-13 to the delight and cheers of the home crowd. However, Brock went on to take five of the next eight points to see things tied at 18.
Captain Amit Sayal put in a gutsy effort to save the ball, running into the stats table, and return to eventually block for a Western point to put them back ahead by one.
M??l END OF 1ST SET
The Badgers take a close opening set 25-22 over the Mustangs. Blake Fenwick leads with 5 kills.
Despite saving set-point twice, Western eventually dropped the opener 25-22 to the Badgers.
A block from Josiah Esau and a Sayal kill kicked things off in the second for Western as they took a 3-2 lead early. Esau added an ace to his name soon after.
Things would remain close, as neither side could build a gap of a lead and continued to battle hard for each point as Brock called timeout at 11-10.
Two kills from Sayal put the purple and white ahead 21-19, but in familiar fashion the team’s found themselves even at 24. Western had set-point twice, first off of a Brock error and second off of a Fenwick kill, but Brock kept fighting. Eventually Nicolas Folz secured the set for the Mustangs at 28-26.
M??l END OF 2ND SET
Nicolas Folz secures a hard-fought second set for the Mustangs as they take this one 28-26 over Brock!
Western saw themselves ahead 4-3 featuring kills from Millard and Sayal, before eventually doubling up on Brock at 6-3 early in the third.
With the score sitting at 14-9, the Badgers took seven of the next nine points to make things even at sixteen, before building a lead of their own at 20-17 moments later.
Kills from Millard and Sayal kept the Mustangs within one on different occasions, before the purple and white found even at 23. The Badgers eventually took the next two points and the set at 25-23.
M??l END OF 3RD SET
The Badgers take this one 25-23 over the Mustangs. Blake Fenwick leads Western with 12 kills.
Western took the lead 6-2 in the fourth set, before a block and kill from Sayal extended it to 8-3.
“Amit [Sayal] tried to get us some heart and desire,” said Sage on his captain.
Like the rest of this match, the visitors kept battling as they looked to prevent a fifth set and tied things up at 12, before taking the lead.
A Jack Cochran ace put Western back in front at 17-16 in this continued back-and-forth affair. Unfortunately, Western fell short and dropped the set 25-20, and the match along with it.
With the loss Western drops to 7-6 on the season, putting their postseason in doubt. Brock improves to 3-10 with the win.
The ‘Stangs’ focus now turns to next weekend where the University of Toronto makes the trip to London for a weekend series.
“We have Toronto next weekend, and it’s not getting any easier,” concluded Jim Sage. “We needed to take two off of [Brock] and then maybe could have put ourselves in a playoff position, but now we are fighting.”
The Mustangs will return to the court on Saturday, January 28th as they welcome the Varsity Blues to Alumni Hall for an 8pm matchup. Tickets can be purchased at westernmustangs.ca