Lancers fall to Mustangs in four sets

The Lancer women's volleyball team fell to the Western Mustangs 3-1 (14-25, 26-24, 21-25, 24-26) on Thursday night at the St. Denis Centre.
 
With the loss the Lancers move to 2-5 on the season, while the Mustangs improve to 3-3.
 
Taking an early lead in the first set, the Mustangs kept the Lancers trailing by two points until Windsor was able to tie it up at 7-7 after consecutive Mustang errors. Struggling to distance themselves from the Lancers, the teams traded points until Western was able to force Windsor back into a two-point deficit at 13-11.
 
Pushing the point differential to eleven points, the Mustangs focused on tight defence and strategic play at the net and take the set 25-14.
 
Stepping out onto the court for the second set with renewed confidence, the Lancers took a quick 2-0 lead over the Mustangs. Having learned to attack around the strong blocks thrown up by Western, the Lancers pushed Western into a four-point deficit at 4-8.
 
Windsor kept the Mustangs at bay for much of the set, maintaining a minimal point difference of three. Forced into a time-out at 14-20, the Mustangs struggled with technical and unforced errors throughout much of the set.
 
Closing the gap with consistent serving and strong blocks, the Mustangs brought the score to 24-24. Taking the one point lead after a block from the Mustangs put the ball out of bounds, the Lancers took the set 26-24 on a Western error.
 
Taking control of the third set early on, the Lancers were unwilling to allow a repeat of the Mustang success in the first set. Coming back from a five-point deficit to bring the score to 10-11, the Mustangs refused to allow the Lancers to feel comfortable in their lead.
 
Maintaining a small lead, the Mustangs pushed through Lancer attacks to bring the score to 21-16 and force the Lancers into a time-out. Ending on an out of bounds attack from Windsor, Western took the set 25-21.
 
Keeping the fourth set competitive, neither team allowed the other to create a substantial point difference as the set was tied at 6-6. Looking to end the match in four sets, the Mustangs took an 11-8 lead after rounds of rigorous defensive play. Fighting back, the Lancers turned the score around after a five point run, which included two aces, to bring the score to 11-12.
 
The Mustangs tied up the score at 14-14. Maintaining a high level of competition, the teams were stuck within a one-point margin of each other as they exchanged points to 24-24. Taking advantage after a Lancer error, Serena Smith won the set for the Mustangs 26-24 with an unreturnable attack.
 
Shannon Dean led the Lancers with 18.5 points, while Laura Lytwynec had a game high 21 points for the Mustangs.
 
Windsor will take a break from competition until next Friday when they host the Lakehead Thunderwolves at 7:00pm at the St. Denis Centre.

Source: Windsor Lancers