Western Mustangs Defeat Trent Excalibur 3-0

The Western Mustangs took on Trent Excalibur on Friday in Alumni Hall. The Mustangs went on to dominate in all three sets. When Trent gained a point advantage in the third set, the Mustangs were able to stop the team from gaining any momentum taking the game 3-0. 
 
Trent gets on the board first as a serve goes short from Western. A double block from the Mustangs puts them on the board. They push ahead in the points early on. An attacking error from Trent puts the Mustangs five points ahead. The Mustangs increase their point lead to 10. A short service from Trent puts the Mustangs within three points of the set win. The Mustangs dominate in the opening set to finish with a score of 25-14. 
 
Trent gets on the scoreboard first but a block from them that goes out of bounds puts the Mustangs on the board. Blake Fenwick gets a kill to equalize the score at 2-2. The Mustangs maintain the lead towards the middle of the set. The teams trade service errors which see the score at 10-9 to Western. A kill from Blake Fenwick finds the far-left corner of the court to increase that point lead to two. After Josiah Esau sets the ball, a kill from Cade Smith puts another point on the board for Western. Trent gains some momentum into the middle of the set, equalizing at 13-13. An attacking error from Western puts Trent in the lead. Cade Smith gets a free ball his way and is able to send the ball onto Trent’s side, forcing Trent into a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Trent takes the first point as a ball makes its way through the Mustang defense. Luca Stojanovic finds the far-right corner of the court to bring the Mustangs within six of the set win. Blake Fenwick sends a ball into Trent’s block where they send it out of bounds, putting the Mustangs within five of the set win. Trent maintains a short distance behind the Mustangs into the later half of the set. Blake Fenwick brings the team within one point of the second set win. Despite good effort from Trent to put pressure on the Mustangs, Western take the second set 25—23. 
 
A kill from Trent puts them on the scoreboard first in the third set but a short serve puts a point on the board for Western. Trent push ahead by three points but a kill from Cade Smith decreases the point gap to two. Despite Trent maintaining the point lead coming towards the middle of the set, a kill from Nicholas Folz brings the Mustangs back within three. An attacking error two points later from Trent puts the Mustangs behind by one. After the Mustangs equalize, a kill from Cade Smith puts them ahead with a score of 12-11. Trent equalize again but a kill from Kendall Homenick puts the Mustangs right back in the lead. A double block from Homenick and Josiah Esau puts another point on the board for Western. When the Mustangs push ahead by two points, a timeout is called. Coming out of the timeout, Western win the first point. Nicholas Folz taps the ball over the net to put the Mustangs four ahead after Trent are unable to return it. Josiah Esau gets a contested service ace, putting the Mustangs five away from the set win. A timeout is called. Coming out of the timeout, the Mustangs push ahead in the points. Cade Smith tips the ball over the net where it falls on the right-hand side. Two service aces in a row from Blake Fenwick secures the third set for Western with a final score of 25-17. 
 
After the game, Head Coach Jim Sage explained that after four games on the road, “we were really happy to be home and we were worried about it. They had played a team that we had split with – UofT, last week and went five in both matches. So, we knew they could play. You don’t want to give them any type of confidence. You could see that teetering on going the other way but I was glad that my guys stepped up and got the job done”. In the third set, Trent pushed ahead in the points, but the Mustangs stopped any momentum they tried to gain. Coach Sage added that at that point they were focused on “survival and that eventually, some of those points were going to come back our way. They missed a couple of serves and that it’ll even itself out a little bit. We’ve got some new guys on the court that are second year that I assume as a coach that it’s going to be just fine and play great and then when they don’t I cant figure it out and then I realize they’re only in second year! It’s hard but they’re doing great. Once they’re on the court they have to perform. I don’t care what year you’re in and we’re figuring it out so that’s good.”
 
The teams will meet again today at 8:00pm in Alumni Hall. Catch the action on OUA.tv.