The Western Mustangs met with the Queens Gaels yesterday at Alumni Hall. The team showed perseverance after they fought back, initially starting with a two-set loss to Queens. The Mustangs went on to win the third and fourth sets, pushing the game into a fifth. The game came down to the final points which Queens was ultimately able to secure.
A kill from the Mustangs secures them the first point. A ball goes out of bounds off the hands of a Mustang and Queens equalize. Blake Fenwick gets a kill putting the Mustangs back in the lead. A ball tipped over the net by Jonah Millard adds another point to the scoreboard for Western. The teams equalize at 9-9 but an attacking error from the Gaels puts the Mustangs back ahead. Despite work by the Mustangs to keep the ball alive, Queens win the point putting them back ahead. A timeout is called by Western when Queens push ahead in the points. Cade Smith gets a massive kill that finds the far-left corner of the court to fire up the Alumni Hall crowd. The Gaels get within five of the first set win, but the Mustangs follow behind by three points. Coming out of the timeout, the teams trade serving errors. After a serve from Amit Sayal that just gets over the net, the Gaels attempt to tip it back over but are unsuccessful and the point goes to Western. Queens take the opening set 25-22.
A ball that is sent out of bounds by Queens puts the Mustangs on the board first. The Mustangs maintain a small point lead. As the teams equalize at 5-5, a block from Cameron McGregor puts the Mustangs back ahead. The teams equalize again at 8-8 after a ball is sent long by Queens. A block from Queens puts the Gaels four points ahead, causing the Mustangs to call for a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, a long serve from Queens puts the Mustangs three behind. A kill from Kendall Homenick fires up the crowd a few points later. A triple block from Millard, McGregor, and Smith adds another point to the scoreboard for Western. As the Gaels come within five of the set win, a ball sent out of bounds by the Gaels closes that point gap to two. A further block from the Mustangs puts them behind by one. After the timeout, a short serve from the Mustangs gives the serve back to the Gaels. A long serve from Queens gives the ball right back to the Mustangs. After a timeout called by Western, the Gaels push to one away from the set win, the Mustangs come within one and a kill from Cade Smith equalizes the points at 25-25, pushing the game into extra points. The teams equalize again at 26-26. A kill from Blake Fenwick puts the Mustangs ahead in the points. A timeout is called. The teams are equal again at 27-27 after the Mustangs send a ball out of bounds. The Gaels take set two after a tense final few moments with a final score of 29-27.
The Queens Gaels take the opening point but the Mustangs quickly put points on the board. A ball tipped over the net by Josiah Esau puts the Mustangs ahead in the points. Queens equalize at 3-3 but a long serve from the Gaels puts Western back in the lead. After points are exchanged, Western push ahead in the lead after a short serve from Queens making it 9-8. Jonah Millard tips the ball over the net to push the Mustangs back into the lead after the Gaels equalize again. Josiah Esau puts another point of the board for Western with a kill. The Gaels follow behind with one point. A timeout is called when the Mustangs push two points ahead. Blake Fenwick gets a kill following the timeout. Despite the Gaels putting pressure on the Mustangs, Western maintain the point lead. An attacking error from the Gaels puts the Mustangs within five of the set win. As the Mustangs push within four of the set, Queens calls for a timeout. A kill from Cameron McGregor puts the team within three of the set win. A kill from Blake Fenwick puts the Mustangs within two of the set but a ball tipped over by Queens adds another to the scoreboard for them, closing the point gap. Two many touches from Queens, brings the Mustangs within one point of the set win. A serve that goes wide from Queens wins the set for the Mustangs with a final score of 25-21.
The Queens Gaels take the opening point of the fourth set after finding an opening on the court. A short serve from the Gaels equalizes the score for the Mustangs. A kill from Cade Smith adds another point to the scoreboard. The next point was fiercely fought for by the Mustangs with Owen Kelly making fantastic digs. The Gaels push ahead after a kill finds an empty spot on the court. A service ace from Blake Fenwick puts the Mustangs one behind the Gaels. The teams trade points towards the middle of the set. An attacking error from Queens equalizes the points for the teams. A short serve from the Gaels equalizes the score at 14-14 again. A timeout is called as the Gaels push three ahead. A ball sent out of bounds by the Gaels puts them two behind. The Gaels come within six of the set win and another timeout is called by the Mustangs. Coming out of the timeout, a short serve from Queens gives the ball back to the Mustangs. A further attacking error from Queens brings the Mustangs within two. The Gaels maintain a point lead but a double block from Josiah Esau and Jonah Millard brings the team one point behind Queens. A timeout is called. After Queens win the first point coming out of the timeout, a ball tipped over the net by Josiah Esau brings them within one. A kill from Cameron McGregor equalizes the score at 22-22. A ball sent out of bounds by Queens puts Western ahead in the points. A block coming out of the timeout goes out of bounds for Western, equalizing the points at 23-23. The Mustangs went on to take the fourth set with a score of 26-24, pushing the game into a fifth set.
Western take the opening point of set five. An attacking error from Queens puts the Mustangs two points up. Queens equalize and push ahead by two. The teams switch sides with Queens in the lead by two points. A short sevrve after switching sides gives the Mustangs a point. Kendall Homenick adds to the set kills. After a serve from Queens, the Mustangs come within one point of the Gaels as Kendall Homenick gets a kill. A block from Jonah Millard equalizes at 10-10. The teams trade service errors with the score sitting at 12-12. A kill from Cameron McGregor puts the Mustangs ahead by one and Queens call for a timeout. The teams trade service errors coming out of the timeout. Another timeout is called when Western pulls ahead by one point. A short serve from Queens puts the Mustangs within one of the set win. Despite excellent work from the Mustangs to fight right until the end of the set, the Gaels take the fifth set 17-15.
After the game, Jim Sage explained that “I’m really proud of them for fighting and battling in a really high intensity match that had the real feeling of a play-off game which is good for us. It’s exactly what we want to do in terms of playing against the top teams in the country and see what we can do against them. In that fifth set, same sort of thing – we’ve battled all year with those and then it can go either way. I thought we had it there for a second then it’s just one point and then it’ll be a weird bounce and it doesn’t go your way. But, I was really pleased how we were down 2-0 and fought back to push it to five and then have a really good chance to win the match”. On what they will be looking for in terms of the keys for the match today, Coach Sage added that “it’s just getting re-energised after such an emotional .. I said to the guys ‘put your work boots back on and your hard hats and we’ve got to go to work again’ if we had a similar match again tomorrow, even if the outcome isn’t that well, then we are moving forward to the playoff game that we are going to have to face next week and that’ll be just as tough. So, I’m proud of the guys, tough lost, entertaining game, lot of stuff going on”.
The two teams will meet again today at 4:00pm. Catch the action on OUA.tv