Western Mustangs Fall 3-2 To The Waterloo Warriors

Box Score The Western Mustangs faced the Waterloo Warriors today at 8:00pm in Alumni Hall. The game went to five sets with both teams fighting for each point. The final set score for the game was 3-2 to the Warriors with Western looking for a win in tomorrow’s game. 
 
Waterloo wins the first point of the game after the ball finds the far-left corner of the court. Cade Smith puts the Mustangs ahead in the points after he sends a kill to the left-hand side of the court. The Warriors work to close the point gap to one but a kill from Blake Fenwick pushes the Mustangs ahead by two points. A service ace from Cade Smith finds the far-right hand side of the court, giving the Mustangs lots of energy early in this first set. A long serve from the Warriors puts the Mustangs four ahead in the points. Two consecutive points sent out by the Mustangs brings the Warriors within two. A block from Kendall Homenick and Josiah Esau puts the score at 7-10 to the Mustangs. The Warriors work to close the point gap to one. After both teams work to keep the ball alive in a close-fought point, a kill from Blake Fenwick brings Alumni Hall to life. The Warriors equalize at 14 after a ball goes just long for the Mustangs. the Warriors push ahead in the points after a ball goes out of bounds for the Mustangs but give the point right back with a long serve. The Warriors get within give points of the first set win after a kill falls just past the net on the Mustangs’ side of the court. Coming out of the timeout, the Mustangs win three consecutive points to come within one point of the Warriors. A service ace for Amit Sayal equalizes the points at 20. A timeout is called, and the Mustangs win the first coming out of the timeout. The next point sees Owen Kelly run towards the Mustang bench to keep the ball alive with the Mustangs winning the point as the Warriors send the ball out of bounds. Amit Sayal goes to serve as the Mustangs come within two points of the first set win. Jonah Millard gets a kill finding the middle of the court to bring the Mustangs within one of the first set win. The Mustangs take the first set with a score of 21-25. 
 
The Waterloo Warriors win the first two points of the second set. A long serve for the Warriors puts the Mustangs on the board. A Mustang block is then sent out of bounds putting the Warriors two ahead. The two teams equalize at three points and again at four. The Mustangs go on to win the next two points after a block from Waterloo goes out of bounds making the score 4-6 to the Mustangs. a long serve brings the Warriors within one. The Warriors go on to get a serving error themselves to put the Mustangs two ahead. A few points later, Owen Kelly works to keep the ball alive with the Mustangs going on to win the point as a ball is sent out of bounds by a Warrior. The teams equalize at 11 after the Mustangs are unable to keep he ball alive. The Warriors go on to push ahead by two points. Josiah Esau goes on to set the ball for Blake Fenwick who gets a kill to maintain the pressure on the Warriors. When the Warriors push four points ahead, the Mustangs call for a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Jonah Millard gets a kill as the team work to close the point gap. A further kill from Blake Fenwick closes that gap even further. A ball tipped over the net by Blake Fenwick makes the game a one-point game with a score of 19-18 on the board to the Warriors. The warriors go to call for a timeout. The Warriors win the first point coming out of the timeout as a kill finds the far end of the court. As the Warriors get within three points of the set win, the Mustangs maintain the pressure on the Warriors. Despite this, the Warriors push closer to the set win and take the second set 25-21. 
 
The Mustangs win the opening point of the third set. The Warriors quickly equalize but the Mustangs push ahead. The Warriors equalize again after a ball goes out of bounds off the Mustang block. The teams trade points early in this third set. A low serve from the Warriors is received by Owen Kelly who gets a big dig to keep the ball alive. It is Cade Smith who pushes the Mustangs ahead in the points by sending a kill to the far left-hand side of the court. The Warriors equalize the score at 8 after a ball is sent out of bounds off the Mustang block. A serve from Jonah Millard is sent over the net, Cade Smith runs to keep the ball alive, and Josiah Esau sends the ball back over the net. It seems there is some miscommunication among the Warriors as they are unable to get it back over the net. The teams equalize at 13 after the ball makes its way through the Waterloo defense. The two teams trade points. The Mustangs push ahead by two points. Josiah Esau sends the ball over the net which goes off the fingertips of a Warrior and out of bounds making the score 16-18 to the Mustangs. The Warriors win the next two points to equalize at 18, maintaining the pressure on Western. Jonah Millard gets a kill which equalizes the score at 22. A Mustang error puts the Warriors within two points of the set win. The Mustangs call for a timeout. The Warriors push within one of the set win and another timeout is called. A short serve from the Warriors makes the score 24-23 to the Warriors. A double block from Josiah Esau and Jonah Millard equalizes the score at 24. The Warriors push ahead by one to make the score 25-24. A ball is sent out of bounds by the Mustangs to give the Warriors the third set 26-24. 
 
The Warriors take the first two points of the fourth set. A short serve from the Warriors puts the Mustangs on the board. Blake Fenwick sends a ball over the net that goes off the fingertips of the Warriors and out of bounds to equalize at 2. The Mustangs then push ahead in the points. The Warriors work to equalize the points at 4 and push ahead by one. A block from Kendall Homenick. Every time a team tries to breakaway in the points, the other team responds making this fourth set very tense. Huge digs from the Mustangs keep the ball alive to push two points ahead making it 9-11. A kill from Blake Fenwick is sent down the right-hand side to push the point difference to three. The Mustangs push ahead in the points and the Warriors call for a timeout. The Mustangs go on to win the next two points coming out of the timeout. Huge digs from Josiah Esau sees the ball be kept alive and eventually the point is won by the Mustangs to put them six points ahead. The Warriors keep the pressure on the Mustangs to close that point gap to five. A double block from Jonah Millard and Blake Fenwick sees the score at 11-19 to the Mustangs. Blake Fenwick gets another kill after a huge dig from Amit Sayal to keep the ball alive. This makes the score 11-20. A couple points later, a block from Waterloo goes out of bounds, putting the Mustangs within three points of the set win. A serve that goes wide and long for the Warriors puts Western within two of the set win. Another block from Waterloo goes out of bounds and puts the Mustangs within one point of the set. The final score of the fourth set is 15-25. 
 
The Western Mustangs take the first point of the fifth set. The Warriors take the second point after a ball falls in the middle of the court and the Mustangs are unable to return it. The teams equalize again at 2 points. The Mustangs push ahead in the points after a ball is sent out of bounds by the Warriors. They equalize at 5 points. The teams switch sides with the Mustangs leading in the points. The Warriors catch up and equalize. A triple block from Western pushes them ahead in the points. The teams equalize again at 11, with neither team able to break away in the points. A fantastic dig from Owen Kelly keeps the ball alive and a kill from Blake Fenwick puts them ahead in the points. A ball sent out of bounds off the Mustangs equalizes the score at 12 again. A further ball sent out of bounds puts the Warriors ahead in the points. The Warriors push the score to 14-12 to them and the Mustangs call for a timeout. A service ace for the Warriors gets them the fifth set with a final score of 15-12. 
 
When speaking to Head Coach Jim Sage after the game, he explained “I didn’t feel like we came out in the first part of the match and really competed to the level that we needed to see, and we talked about it”. He went on to say that “I thought we did really great in the fourth set. I thought we had found our way – once you go to a fifth it can go either way so quickly. It’s luck sometimes that can do it. So, we just weren’t on the lucky side there. We want to take care of business before we even get to that spot and then hopefully, we can be better tomorrow”. When asked about keeping morale high due to the quick turnaround of another game happening tomorrow at 4:00pm, Coach Sage explained that “we’ll try to put a positive spin on it and then we’ll go stretch and rest and then be ready for tomorrow. I’d rather have that turnover then wait until 8 o’clock. You want to get back on the court.”
 
The team will take on the Waterloo Warriors again tomorrow at 4:00pm in Alumni Hall.