The Western Mustangs competed against the Brock Badgers Saturday in St. Catherines. Despite the Mustangs’ diligent efforts to secure points, Brock powered their way to a 3-0 win to advance in the OUA playoffs and end the Mustangs seaso.
The opening point of the game is secured by Claire Stewart, putting Western on the scoreboard. The teams go on to trade points in the early moments of the first set. A service ace from Brock puts them three points ahead, causing a timeout from Western. As Brock push ahead late into the first set, Western maintains their pressure on the team. Lael Harrison adds to the Western kills in the first set after the ball is set by Hannah Joo. Western makes a couple of substitutions towards the end of the first set but a kill from Laurin Ainsworth from the Badgers secures the first set for Brock 25-12.
After some miscommunication between the Badgers’, Western takes the opening point of the second set. Lael Harrison goes on to tip the ball over the net after a free ball comes their way. A further attacking error from Brock sees Western four points up early in the second set with Brock unable to get on the scoreboard. Laurin Ainsworth puts Brock on the board with a kill. Lael Harrison goes on to respond with another kill. A few moments later, a double block by Claire Stewart and Robin Henshaw fires up the Western bench. Western pushes five points ahead after a kill from Devin Gerth which causes Brock to call for a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Madison Chimienti gets a kill after a ball set by Sara Rohr, getting Brock the point. Brock come out of the timeout to win a series of points. When the push ahead in the points, Western calls for a timeout. After an attacking error by Emily Foest, Western takes the point coming out of the timeout. Despite fantastic work from the Mustangs to put pressure on the Badgers in the second half of the set, Brock continues to push towards the set win. Devin Gerth gets a kill after a ball is set by Thea Ishida, closing the point gap to six. Western gain some momentum into the end of the set but Brock takes the set with a score of 25-19.
Brock takes the opening point of the third set but a kill from Robin Henshaw puts Western on the board. Lael Harrison gets a service ace to put Western ahead in the points. Further kills by Robin Henshaw and Claire Stewart puts Western three ahead of Brock. Laurin Ainsworth stops the Western point progression with a kill but a service error from the Badgers gives Western the serve back. The teams trade points. Towards the middle of the set, Brock is able to pull away in the points after a couple of attacking errors from the Mustangs. The Mustangs continue to put good points on the board in the second half of the set but a kill from Emily Foest wins Brock the third set with a final score of 25-13.
Following an intensely contested game, the Mustangs’ journey this season concludes with this loss. We would like to express our gratitude to the graduating seniors for their invaluable contributions to the program and eagerly anticipate the start of the 2024-2025 season in the fall.
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