The Windsor Lancers men's volleyball team had quite the matchup when they took the court Sunday afternoon. The Lancers sit just two games back from the third place Western Mustangs and a win today against their London rivals would go a long way in improving the Lancers' playoff standing. The Lancers made a habit of taking early leads but used a late push in the fifth set to down the mustangs 3-2 (25-17, 19-25, 25-21, 25-23, 18-17).
 
GAME STATS
Lancer Pierce Johnson was the top scorer of the day, posting 24 kills. The Mustangs were led by Evan Cranshaw and his 18 kills.
 
Matt Hooker led all players in assists with 55 assists. Nolan Langley led the Lancers with 51.
 
Evan Cranshaw led the way in terms of blocks, recording three for the Mustangs. The Lancers were led by Pierce Johnson who had two successful blocks.
 
GAME FLOW
The Lancer jumped on the Mustangs in the first set, flying out of the gates to 16-8 lead before the Mustangs took a timeout to stop the bleeding.  Though the Mustangs made some adjustments, the Lancers were ready for them, despite a decent run, John Moate was able to end it on a nice ace, to take the set 25-17.
 
In the second set the Lancers took an early lead on the back of some great defensive play by the Lancers' Moate who did a great job turning the Mustang attacks back.  Unfortunately, the Mustangs tightened up and took an 11-10 lead midway through the set. The rest of the set was tight with neither team establishing any breathing room until the Mustangs won the set, 25-19.
 
The Lancers jumped out to an early lead for the third time in as many sets off of a great rally that gave the Lancers a 6-3 lead early in the set. The Mustangs, as they did in the prior set closed ranks and regrouped, not letting the lead grow totally out of reach, yet they struggled to close the gap with the Lancers. The Blue and Gold took the third set, 25-21.
 
The trend of early Lancers leads continued into the fourth set as the Lancers jumped out to a 7-4 lead early. However, the Mustangs responded early to prevent a run and tied the game shortly after falling behind.  The game remained one of back and forth with neither squad separating themselves by even a small margin throughout the midway point of the set. The Mustangs opened a small lead late in the set, at one point leading 18-14. The Lancers closed the gap and tied at 23. Unfortunately for the Lancers the Mustangs went on to win the set and force a fifth frame of competition, 25-23.
 
In the fifth set it was the Mustangs turn to take an early lead, jumping out to a 6-3 lead and holding service throughout the early going of the set. The Mustangs held the lead past the midway point of the set and the Lancers were forced to take a timeout trailing 10-6. The Lancers got things under control and knocked the deficit down to just 13-11. As the set wore on the Lancers refused to go away and their perseverance was rewarded with a thrilling 19-17 win to take the set and the game.
 
UP NEXT
Up next the Lancers host the Waterloo Warriors on Tuesday, Feb. 20th at 8:00pm and the game can be seen live at oua.tv. Please note this game was rescheduled from its original day on Wednesday February 21st.