Box Score The season series between the Western Mustangs and Waterloo Warriors was closely fought. But in their OUA semifinal clash on Friday night, Western found a higher gear than their CIS-ranked opponents and powered past Waterloo in four sets.
Set scores were 25-22, 20-25, 25-13 and 25-17 in favour of the Mustangs, who earned a berth in the CIS Championship tournament with the win, along with a place in tomorrow's OUA final.
Recently named OUA Player of the Year, Garrett May led all scorers in the semifinal match with 22 points – all of which were kills – on 42 hitting attempts with six errors (38.1%). Middle hitter Justin Scapinello added 14 points and 9 kills in the win.
Waterloo was led by veteran middle
Tyler Motherwell (Toronto) who contributed 14.5 points and 10 kills en route to recognition as the Warriors' Player of the Game. OUA Libero of the Year
Erich Woolley (New Dundee/) led the match with 16 digs, putting his passing skills on display in a losing effort.
The first semifinal of the night began evenly, with the Warriors and Mustangs playing side-out volleyball to open the first set. But the Mustangs moved into the lead as the set approached the technical timeout, and when a spin serve went unreturned, Western entered the break with a 16-13 advantage.
Consecutive cross-court kills from OUA Player of the Year Garrett May extended that lead to five points at 20-15, a deficit that proved too large for Waterloo to completely erase. Luke Sim showed a sign of nerves, smashing a swing from the right well above the Warriors' block to bring Waterloo within three points.
But after a
Zachary Doherty (Goderich/) serve sailed long to bring up set point,
Aleks Poldma (Toronto) repeated the trick to end the first 25-22 in the Mustangs' favour.
Waterloo enjoyed a resurgent second set, powering into a 16-11 lead at the technical timeout when the opportunistic
Jordan Dyck (St. Catharines/) tipped the free ball to the floor. The Mustangs responded with a run to close the gap to two at 20-18, capped by another successful swing by May.
Fiodar Kazhamiaka (Waterloo/) tooled the block on the left side to force Western to call time at 23 20, and Waterloo finished the set off just two points later when Kazhamiaka notched a solo block to level the match.
The back-and-forth match took another decided turn to open the third, as Western raced ahead 9-5 with a double block to force a timeout from Waterloo. The break did little to stem the Mustangs' momentum, as Western won seven of the next nine points to take a 16-7 lead into the third set technical, after Luke Sims tooled the block on the right side and found the floor.
The Mustangs coasted to the finish line in the third, riding their substantial lead to an easy victory. May struck again to set up set point with a thunderous cut-shot from the left, before winning the joust on the very next point for the 25-13 win.
One set from the OUA title game, Western turned to its star to put the match away. May scored four of the Mustangs' first seven points as they moved into a commanding early lead. Western seemed poised to run away with the fourth set, and enjoyed a 16-9 advantage at the technical timeout.
Waterloo fought back immediately, with Zach Doherty dictating play from the service line, and stormed back to within four points at 18-14 before Western called timeout.
The scare proved to be momentary, as the Mustangs exited the break in fine form. They moved to match point when a Waterloo attack fell just wide of the left sideline, and completed the victory when another Waterloo attack sailed long handingWestern the set 25-17 and match 3-1.
