Waite, Western sweep Waterloo to advance to OUA Finals

LONDON, Ont. – The No. 5 Western Mustangs men’s volleyball team will play in the OUA Final for a second year in a row after sweeping the Waterloo Warriors in three straight sets Friday night at Alumni Hall.

With set scores of 28-26, 25-20 and 25-23, Western will face Queen’s for the banner.

The Warriors took the early lead in set one, going up 15-12 before Western came from behind to tie the set at the technical. A solo block from setter Sean McKay gave the Mustangs the momentum needed to pull ahead, but the Warriors did not want to be discounted. A battle ensued in which the Mustangs came out ahead 28-26.

Armed with the first set, Western made sure to quickly put up points in the second. Consistent middle hits from Mathew Waite gave the purple and white a 16-12 advantage at the technical timeout. The Mustangs continued their attack and wrapped up set two 25-20.

The third and final set was intense as both teams put up their best defense. Offensively, Western was plagued with serving errors and Waterloo could not get past the Western blocks. Tied at 18, Garrett May, living up to his OUA First-Team All-Star nod, came up big with serves for Western. Waterloo was not able to recover from the deficit and Western won the set 25-23 and match 3-0.

Waite, a 2012 OUA Second Team All-Star, had 16 points (15 kills, 21 total attacks) for the Mustangs. OUA First Team All-Stars Phil James and Mathieu Poulin put up 10 points (7 kills, 2 serve aces, 1 solo block), and nine points (7 kills, 1 ace, 2 digs) respectively.

Cameron Wheelan, named to the OUA Second Team led the Warriors with 13 points (13 kills, 4 digs).

The win automatically sends the Mustangs to the CIS Men’s Volleyball Championships Mar. 2-4 in Kingston, Ont., since Queen’s University is the host.

But, before next weekend, the Western Mustangs will play Queen’s Gaels Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall for the OUA Championship banner.