LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs picked up a key win over the York Lions in four sets (29-27, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17) on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall while also moving one step closer to a playoff position.
 
The win keeps Western tied with Waterloo in fifth place with an 8-7 record, while York's loss pushes them out of the entanglement for fifth and into sole possession of seventh at 7-10.
 
Mike Choja and Zeid Hamadeh – each with 18 points – led the Mustangs to victory through both attacking and blocking efforts.
 
On the other half of the floor, York was led by Alexander Duncan-Thibault and Tyler Covach who each put up 12.5 points, while Arther Szwarc came through with 11.5.
 
"Going into the match we knew [this game] was very important," said assistant coach Rob Atkinson. "Us, York, and the team we play tomorrow – Nipissing, are all fighting for the two last playoff spots. Going in we knew we were fairly even. They had beaten us in the fifth set 13-15 in the first half of the year so we knew it would be close."
 
Not only matching in the standings heading into the game, the teams matched each other in both points and skill for much of the first set.
 
The first rallies of the game were essentially a battle between middles, and at a quick glance it appeared as if York would have the most dominating player on the floor in Szwarc. Staying on the court for full rotations instead of splitting time with their libero, his high flying attack was a constant threat to Western. At the net, his 6-10 frame challenged even the best purple and white attackers.
 
However, it was Choja who was proving to be a more valuable middle. Leading the Mustangs offensively throughout the first set, the London native was going head-to-head with Szwarc and almost always coming out victorious.
 
The Mustangs managed to get the best of the Lions by concentrating power in the middle and relying on Choja and Evan Hammond to take a first set victory at 29-27.
 
The second set opened up with the same fierce competition that took the first into additional points. Rallies were either brutally short, with the ball only crossing the net once or twice after the serve, or were exhaustingly long with neither team willing to give up what would undoubtedly be a well-deserved point. 
 
Western continued to share equal responsibility in the back court, while Choja and Hammond shouldered the burden of the offensive effort.
 
York, slipping behind, also looked to the middle for points. However, Szwarc wasn't able to carry the team on his own. Choosing to set the middle over all other players on the floor, Western was able to pick up on York's patterns and adjust their defensive and block game accordingly.
 
With Western able to accurately predict where the ball would be coming from they had a firm edge over the Lions to close out the second set at 25-21. 
 
Moving into the third set long rallies were abandoned as both teams looked to their heaviest hitters to make an impact. Even with the increase in power, the teams remained evenly matched.
 
Momentum began permanently shifting in favour of the Lions when Robert Thompson took over at the service line. Building up a four-point lead, York was pushing hard for an additional set.
 
With Covach taking over as York's most dangerous hitter, the Lions pushed through Western to take the second set at 23-25.
 
Helping the Lions reach 25 was a Mustang rotation error, three service errors and problems in on-court communication.
 
"We had a little lull," reflected Atkinson. "We gave up a few easy points away and had trouble closing the gap. I don't think we played poorly outside of that stretch of five or six points but it was enough for them to hang on."
 
The set loss seemed to be all Western needed to snap back into the game as they waited until the final set to play some of their best volleyball.
 
After lying dormant in the previous set, both Western's blockers were at it again, this time with Bryn Ramsay leading the effort while setter Matt Hooker managed a solo as well. Making the most of his time in the front, Ramsay began sending out some his his strongest attacks of the night.
 
The move away from the middle proved to be very lucrative for the Mustangs as they faced the smallest amount of resistance they'd seen all night long.  The Lions struggled to interrupt the Mustangs as they steadily moved towards the final points of the match, ultimately closing it out at 25-17.
 
"At the end of the day we just put together one of our strongest matches of the year," said Atkinson.
 
The Mustangs are back at Alumni Hall for a Senior Day matchup against the Nipissing Lakers as they hold the home court advantage for the last time in the regular season. The game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., with live streaming available on OUA.tv.