The Western Mustangs Fall 3-1 to Queens Gaels

The Western Mustangs met with the Queens Gaels this afternoon in front of their home crowd. Today was Senior day and so three players were recognized at the beginning of the game: Hannah Joo, Ella St. Martin, and Devin Gerth. While the Gaels took the first two sets, Western were able to secure the third set with the fourth ultimately going to Queens. 
 
A block from Queens goes out of bounds, putting Western on the board first. Queens get a slight point lead early on a serve goes short and Western get an attacking error. An early timeout is called by Western. Lael Harrison gets a kill that finds the far-right hand corner of the court, adding to Western’s scoreboard. A service ace from Kendra McEwan fires up the crowd in Alumni Hall. A ball tipped over by Hannah Joo lands in the corner of the court, bringing the Mustangs three points behind the Gaels. A block from Claire Stewart adds to the Mustangs’ score. The Gaels push ahead in the points, the Mustangs follow closely behind. After another timeout called by Western, the Mustangs work to close the point gap. A block from Claire Stewart puts the Mustangs two points behind the Gaels, forcing them into a timeout. A service ace for Hannah Joo puts the Mustangs one point behind the Gaels as the scoreboard sits at 22-21 to Queens. Another service ace from Hannah Joo equalizes the score at 22-22. The final set score sits at 25-22 to Queens. 
 
Queens take the opening point of set 2 but a short serve from the Gaels puts the Mustangs on the board. A tip over the net by Claire Stewart helps to equalize the points at 2-2. The Mustangs push ahead in the points, with Queens falling behind by one. A service ace from Queens puts the score at 4-4. A kill from Emily Tsiandoulas puts Western back in the lead as the ball goes off the hands of the Gaels and out of bounds. A kill from Devin Gerth puts Western one behind Queens. A block from Kendra McEwan equalizes the score and miscommunication between the Queens’ team results in Western pushing ahead in the points. After Emily Tsiandoulas sets the ball, Devin Gerth gets a kill that equalizes the teams at 12-12. A block from Ava Ebert and Claire Stewart puts the team two behind Queens. The Gaels push within five of the set win after a serve goes out of bounds from Western. A timeout is called. Coming out of the timeout, Queens win the first point, but a long serve gives the point right back to Western. The next point sees Ella St. Martin get a fantastic dig; the Gaels get an attacking error to put another point on the board for Western. Robin Henshaw gets a service ace, firing up the Western bench. A Queens block that goes out of bounds puts the Mustangs only two behind Queens, forcing the Gaels into a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Gaels push ahead in the points coming within one of the set win. A kill that finds the center of the court wins the Gaels the second set 25-22. 
 
A long serve from Queens starts the first set with a point for Western. Robin Henshaw adds to the scoreboard with a kill, keeping the Mustangs ahead. A further service ace from Claire Stewart maintains the point lead for Western. A service error from Western puts the Gaels one behind the Mustangs. After Queens get a couple of points on the board, Devin Gerth halts their progress with a kill. A block from Ava Ebert puts another point on the board for Western. After the ball is kept alive by Devin Gerth who makes a huge dig and an attacking error cause Western to get a point and forcing the Gaels into a timeout. Another timeout is called as Western push 7 ahead. Hannah Joo tips the ball over the net which causes the crowd to erupt in cheers. A long serve from Queens puts Western within one of the set win. A ball sent out of bounds by Queens gets the third set for Western with a final score of 25-15. 
 
A block that goes out of bounds from Queens puts Western on the board first. Queens push ahead after a series of points. An attacking error from Queens brings the Mustangs one behind the Gaels. A service ace from Claire Stewart equalizes the score for the teams at 8-8. Too many touches from the Gaels’ gives the point to the Mustangs, putting them back in the lead. The teams then trade service errors. Western maintain their point lead as a block from Hannah Joo and Ava Ebert puts the team two ahead. A timeout is called by the Gaels as Western pushes three ahead. Queens take the first point coming out of the timeout. As they equalize at 15-15, a short serve from the Gaels puts the Mustangs back in the lead. A timeout is called as the Gaels push back into the lead. The Mustangs secure the first two points coming out of the timeout. As the Gaels come two away from the set win, a fantastic dig from Devin Gerth keeps the ball alive where she is able to get a kill a few moments later to bring the team within one of the Gaels. Too many touches on the ball equalizes the score for the Mustangs at 23-23. Despite good effort from the Mustangs to close the point gap towards the end of the set the final score sits at 25-23 to the Gaels.
 
When speaking to Head Coach Melissa Bartlett after the game, she explained that between the two days, Queens “were pretty steady. They did cut down their unforced errors which did force us to play even cleaner and honestly we were super proud of how we played today. It was a really great team performance, a couple players really stepped up and had the match of their career which is always, like we kind of say the magic of Senior night so nothing but confidence from that heading into the playoffs”. She went on to add that between yesterday and today in terms of the Mustangs’ performance “it was less about the X’s and O’s and more about a belief and trust on the court. That’s reflected in our body language and we were able to execute on that after a short team discussion so, that’s really exciting”. Looking back at the regular season, she told us that “this has been the most challenging regular season that we’ve had due to some injuries and illnesses that we’ve had and so what’s been cool is to see different players step up in key moments to get us where we are right now – that’s what’s really nice to see. It was truly a team effort top to bottom just to be in the position we’re in right now – being able to make it into the playoffs”. 
 
The team are looking ahead to the playoffs which will be happening soon. Catch the action on OUA.tv.