London, ON – The Western Mustangs met with the York Lions on Saturday which would be the second match-up of the week. While Friday’s game saw the Mustangs win three straight sets, today the Lions won all three.
The Mustangs get on the board early with kills from Claire Stewart and Devin Gerth early in the game.
A few points later, Ava Ebert taps the ball over the net which the Lions are unable to get to making the score 2-5 to the Mustangs.
The Lions equalize at 5-5 but send a shot out of bounds giving the Mustangs a one-point lead. A few moments later, a long rally ensues with Lael Harrison working to keep the ball in the game. The Mustangs are able to win the point after a ball by Hannah Joo is sent over the net finding an empty spot in the middle of the court.
Despite making point gains early on in the set, the Lions push ahead. A block from Claire Stewart and Rachel Gray brings the Mustangs within one point of the Lions. The Lions end up winning the first set 26-24.
Despite the York Lions getting the first set, the Mustangs get the first point of the second set with a service ace from Ava Ebert. A kill from Devin Gerth puts them two points ahead early on. The two teams trade points early in the second set with both teams equalizing at 7-7. The Lions push ahead to lead by 7 points.
The Mustangs start to close the gap. A block from Emily Tsiandoulas and Ava Ebert puts the score at 22-16 to the Lions. Despite the Mustangs making gains to catch up with the York Lions, they are unable to prevent them from winning the set making the final score 25-21.
The Lions take the first point in the third set, but the Mustangs quickly equalized after a kill makes the score 1-1. The team came into the third set with high energy helped by the electric crowd at Alumni Hall. After a series of shots sent over the net from both teams alike it was Devin Gerth who sent a kill over the net to add another point to the board for the Mustangs.
A block from York puts them within two points of the win. After a serve from the Lions skims the net the Mustangs are unable to save it putting the final score at 25-20 and giving the Lions the third set win.
After the game, we spoke to Melissa Bartlett the head coach for the team who said that two key takeaways from today would be “consistency and that’s something we talk about every day, and this was a great example this weekend of how difficult that is to do day in and day out. Another key takeaway is just having trust in the depth we have on our team. We had some people come off the bench today and make outstanding contributions and really change the vibe and atmosphere on the court and those are important things to remember going forward as coaches.” She went on to say in looking ahead to December 1st. that “we’re striving to achieve consistency and whether that’s in games or in practice. Next week is a new week – another chance to continue to work on that and grow together as a young team.’
The team will play the Nipissing Lakers on December 1st at 6pm in Alumni Hall.
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