Mustangs defeat Gryphons 3-1 to earn bronze at OUA Final Four Championship

GUELPH, Ont. - Cementing their reputation as a dark horse team, the Mustangs pulled off their second upset of the playoff series when they defeated Guelph in four sets (15-25, 31-29, 25-23, 25-20) to capture the OUA bronze medal Saturday evening at the W.F. Mitchell Center. The rookie-heavy Mustangs were down 0-1 when they kicked into high gear to take the following three sets. The win not only closes out the 2014-15 season for the Mustangs, but also serves as a final farewell to graduating players Laura Lytwynec and Serena Smith.
 
The Mustangs were the first on the scoreboard, but it was Guelph who established the substantial lead. Up by five points at 3-7, the Gryphons honed in on defensive weaknesses immediately and continued to pick on established holes.
 
Doubled at 7-14, Western began to pull out heavy hits to shave down the point difference. Player substitutions on the Mustangs' court helped bring the score to 12-16, but wasn't enough to eclipse the Gryphons.
 
Guelph continued to locate and exploit defensive weak spots, re-extending their lead. Rebecca Breau – in her fourth year with Guelph – was one of the Gryphon's greatest weapons as her blocks threw the Mustangs into disarray.
 
The Gryphons closed out the set with a kill to bring the score to 15-25.
 
The Mustangs were again trailing in the second set, down by three points at 7-10. Struggling to stay tight to the Gryphon score, Western's attacks were dropping outside of court boundaries as they tried to avoid hitting into the block.
 
Returning to the floor from the technical timeout at 14-16, the Mustangs rallied to match Guelph at 19-19.
 
Still tied at 22 points, Western headed in for a timeout to reevaluate the plan on the floor. Coming back to the floor the teams traded points, with the purple and white score again matching that of the Gryphons at 25-25.
 
Taking the advantage after an attack error from Guelph, an ace from Candice Scott brought the set to a close with a score of 31-29.
 
The third set saw the Mustangs and Gryphons locked in a pattern of matching each other's points. That didn't change until setter Katherine Tsiofas took the serve at 10-10. Serving the next four points, her consistency propelled the score to 14-10.
 
At the technical timeout, the Gryphons had fought back into the lead. Scrambling to get hands on every ball sent into their court, Guelph was up by one point at 15-16.
 
Western regained the serve coming off the timeout and pushed out nine points while Guelph could only pick up two. The late point surge put the Mustangs in a prime position to take the set as a block from Kelsey Veltman brought the final score to 25-23.
 
After closing out the third set, Veltman opened up the fourth with a kill that flew between Gryphons to find open court. With a two-point lead at 6-4, the Mustangs were still riding the momentum from the earlier sets.
 
At the technical timeout Western was still up by two points. Taylor Beedie and Serena Smith were making their presence known on the court by sending balls smashing into open court and leaving the Gryphons floundering.
 
Despite being just three points away from the bronze medal, the Mustangs struggled to close out the set. The Gryphons were making a comeback and forced a Western timeout at 22-20.
 
The brief interruption was all that was needed for the purple and white to shift back into high gear, as they sent out three consecutive points to take the final set 25-20.
 
Veltman pushed out a game-high 18.5 points for the Mustangs to earn the top spot across both scoresheets. Smith was close behind with 14 points. Topping the Gryphon scoresheet was Rebecca Breau, who contributed 15.5 points to the Guelph effort.
 
Although Candice Scott wasn't a point leader, she proved to be a great asset on the court. Often helping the Mustangs regain the serve and crawl out of point deficits, her consistency and leadership on the floor was unparalleled. In both the front and back court the six foot middle hitter was a powerful force, earning her Western's Player of the Game honour.
 
With the 2014-15 season now behind them, the 16 returning Mustangs look forward to continuing their success in future seasons and adding to their OUA medal collection.

Source: Western Mustangs