The Windsor Lancers were on their homecourt for the last time in 2018 taking on the Western Mustangs. The Lancers played hard and, despite a forgettable third set, played some stellar volleyball on their way to a 3-1 win (28-26, 26-24, 12-25, 25-20).
 
GAME STATS
Gianfranco Sartor had a fantastic night leading all players with 21 kills for the Mustangs. The Lancers were led by Pierce Johnson and his 15.
 
Jonathan Moate was huge for the Lancers with four block assists and two solo stops. Matt Hooker and Evan Hammond had three assisted blocks to lead the Mustangs.
 
Hooker was the best assist man as well with 48. Windsor was led by Nolan Langley with 41.
 
GAME FLOW
Things got off to a slow start for the Lancers who started the set trailing but quickly worked their way into a 6-6 tie. Sparked by an impressive run by Moate the Lancers put themselves out front 11-9. The Mustangs came right back and tied the game at 13. The set remained dead even as both teams matched each other point for point.  The close game lasted the entire set with the Lancers squeaking out a 28-26 victory to go up 1-0.
 
The Mustangs and Lancers continued their close struggle into the second set as neither team gained any breathing room, tied through the first 11 points. It wasn't until late in the set that the Lancers began to flex some of their muscle and gain some space 20-15. The Mustangs went to work making sure the lead didn't last, gutting out a run to bring them to within one. Despite the close set the Lancers didn't falter and won the set on a great block by Moate, 26-24 as they took a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Western jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the third set. Windsor called their timeouts early as they tried to stop the Mustangs' success and establish a run of their own. Unfortunately, the timeout did little to help the Lancers, who had looked discombobulated in their third set trailing 15-9. The hosts just couldn't recreate their level of play from the first two sets, falling 25-12.
 
The Mustangs came out strong again and found themselves ahead 6-3 early as the Lancers struggled keep up with the Mustangs' newfound intensity. Windsor kept it within striking distance but were forced into a timeout down 11-7. Out of the timeout the Lancers had some momentum, coming back to tie the set at 14. Their momentum continued into a 19-16 lead for the blue and gold, forcing Western into a timeout. The timeout did little for the visitors, who's comeback bid ended when Anthony DeGirolamo blocked a Mustang attack to seal the game 25-20.
 
 
UP NEXT
The Lancers take a break for the holiday season and return to action against the McMaster Marauders on January 12th in Hamilton.