Hamilton, Ont. - The McMaster women's volleyball team fell to division rivals, the Western Mustangs on Saturday night in a five set match. Player of the game for the Marauders was middle Shannon McRobert (Whitby, Ont.).

The first set opneed up with a win for McMaster in a close game. Taking the set 25-23, the Marauders had seven kills and seven errors while the Mustangs earned 11 kills and 9 errors.

In the second set, McMaster took a 4-0 lead before Western put any points on the board thanks to McRobert's play at the net. At the eight point mark, the Marauders had still maintained their four point lead before earned a steady lead of two points up until the technical timeout at 16-14. 

After the timeout, Western came out flying, putting four points on the board to lead 18-16 as McMaster had a tough time receiving some serves. McRobert broke the four point streak with a big block in the middle, but Western got the point right back to make it 21-17. McMaster head coach Tim Louks called a timeout, but the Marauders wouldn't be able to make up the points as Western won hte second set 25-17.

In the third, it was McMaster's turn to be down 4-0 and 8-4 later in the set. Middle Taylor Brisebois (Bolton, Ont.) had two big kills to make it 8-6 before Western called a timeout. Later in the set, McRobert's serves were too tough to handle for Western as the Marauders made up some more points. 

Tied up at 18 with McRobert serving and Lauren Mastroluisi (Ancaster, Ont.) being big at the net, the Marauders took a 22-19 lead. At 24-20, Western put together a few good serves and blocks in an attempt to comeback but it wouldn't be enough as McMaster went up 2-1 in sets with a 25-23 win.

In the fourth, both teams traded points, tied at 5 and tied again at 7. McMaster continued to utilize their middles and Western continued to use the block for points as both evenly matched teams fought for the lead. Down 13-11 from a big block on Mira Krunic (Oakville, Ont.) on the right side, McMaster called a timeout. Unfortunately, the Western Mustangs continued to take advantage with a tough serve Patricia Raso (Hamilton, Ont.) couldn't handle. 

At 16-12, Mastroluisi got the Marauders would of their four point funk with a big hit from the left side. A Raso hit and some great net play by setter Heather DeBoer (Lucknow, Ont.) would get McMaster within one. Western would go only another four point run though, earning the lead at 19-15. Serves by Brisebois would get McMaster within two points again but it wouldn't be enough as the Mustangs earned back their four point lead and kept it to force the fifth set with a 25-21 win. 

In the fifth, McMaster took an early lead at 5-2 thanks to great play at the net from Raso and McRobert and digs from Mastroluisi. But it wouldn't last for long as big swings from Western and some McMaster errors would put the Mustangs up 6-5. Both teams would be tied at 8 and 9 and at 11-9 in favour of the Mustangs, McMaster took a timeout. 

The Marauders earned the next point on a long rally but Western earned one right back with a missed serve on McMaster's part. The Mustangs would eventually take the fifth set 15-11 for their first win of the season.

McRobert had12 kills, 3 aces and 3 blocks in the loss and teammate Mastroluisi also got in double digits with 10 kills for herself. She had two aces and 17 digs as well. Libero Meagan Nederveen (Dundas, Ont.) tallied a game-high 41 digs in the five set match. 

The Marauders travel to Waterloo, Ont. to take on the Warriors next Friday night at 6:00 p.m.