The Western Mustangs met with the TMU Bold yesterday to take the game 3 sets to 1. The Mustangs were looking to push their winning streak to seven games.
Kendall Homenick gets the Mustangs on the board first with a kill, set by Josiah Esau. Despite a 3-1 loss yesterday, the TMU Bold show high energy early into this first set. A kill from Jonah Millard finds the middle of the court to push the score to 7-3 to the Mustangs. A few points later, the TMU Bold call for a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, a kill from Jacob Walker raises the energy of the TMU team. The Mustangs maintain a point lead and a kill from Blake Fenwick finds its way through a double block to put the Mustangs four points ahead. A few points later, Liam Cobb blocks a kill from Blake Fenwick brings the Bold within three points. Taylor Wenzel sneaks a ball over the net to get another point for the Bold. A kill from Blake Fenwick after a free ball is sent over to the Mustangs and an attacking error from the TMU Bold sees the Mustangs push 7 points ahead, causing a timeout called by TMU. Immediately out of the timeout, a fantastic rally sees both teams making digs to keep the ball in play. It is Blake Fenwick who sends the ball to the far-left corner of the court after the ball is set by Josiah Esau. This brings the team withing five points of the set win. Two points later, Bobby Tang gets a kill for TMU keeping the energy high for the Bold. A service error from TMU brings the Mustangs within one point of the set win. Western takes the first set 25-16.
The Mustangs get the first point of the set after a kill from Western is sent out of bounds by TMU. A service error from the TMU Bold gives the Mustangs a two-point lead but a kill from Kai Higuchi works to close that gap. Like the first set, the Mustangs maintain the point lead. Kendall Homenick gets his sixth kill of the game after a ball is set by Josiah Esau to make the score 12-9. TMU close the gap to one point after a ball is tapped over the net by Alex King and Jacob Walker gets a service ace for the Bold. However, the Mustangs maintain their point lead. A serve from Kai Higuchi sees the ball sent over to the Mustangs. Despite receiving a free ball, TMU sends the ball out of bounds to give the Mustangs a three-point lead. Kendall Homenick gets his 8th kill in 11 attacks to put the Mustangs within 3 points of the set win. After a point for TMU, Cade Smith gets another point for the Mustangs with a kill. A timeout is called by Western with a few points to go in the second set. Blake Fenwick serves with one point to go in the second set. A kill from Jonah Millard gets the Mustangs the second set with a final score of 25-21.
A free ball sent over the net by the Mustangs allows Kai Higuchi to send the ball right down into the middle of the court, giving the Bold the first point of the third set. The scores equalise after a serve from TMU is short. TMU goes two points ahead of the Mustangs having found energy after the first two sets and coming into this third set strong. Despite TMU leading in points, the Mustangs maintain a short distance behind. A kill from Blake Fenwick sends the ball to the far end of the court which makes it his 11th kill of the game. This brings the team within three points of the Bold. The teams trade points. After TMU push to a five-point lead, the Mustangs call for a time out. Coming out of the timeout, Cade Smith sends a ball over the net which goes off the hands of a TMU player and out of bounds. TMU continue to push ahead in the points as a kill from Jacob Walker finds the far left-corner of the court, putting the team 8 points ahead of the Mustangs. The Bold get within 4 points of the set win after a ball goes out of bounds off the hand of a Mustang. A short service by the Mustangs sees the TMU Bold win the third set 12-25.
A short serve from the Mustangs gives TMU the first point of the fourth set. Jonah Millard equalises the points after a kill finds the middle of the court. One point later, Millard gets another kill putting the Mustangs ahead in the points. Western seems to find some momentum after the third set, pushing ahead by two points. Owen Kelly makes fantastic digs not only early in this fourth set but throughout the game working to keep the ball alive. A double hit from TMU puts the Mustangs 2 points ahead. A low serve from Blake Fenwick is sent over the net only for TMU to send it right back over. A few moments later, a block from TMU is sent out of bounds, giving the point to the Mustangs. A service ace from Blake Fenwick causes TMU to call for a timeout. Western come out of the timeout with a lot of energy, pushing their point lead to five. They only continue to extend their point lead. After the ball is set by Josiah Esau, Blake Fenwick gets a kill putting the score at 17-10 to the Mustangs. A free ball is sent over to the Mustangs a few points later with Fenwick finding the far right-hand corner of the court to put the Mustangs within six points of winning their sixth game in a row. Despite the Mustangs slowly getting closer to the set win, the TMU Bold maintain pressure on the Mustangs. A long serve from TMU sees the Mustangs win the fourth set 25-18.
The Western Mustangs will meet with the McMaster Marauders in Hamilton on January 12th at 8:00pm.
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