The Mustangs home opener proved to be exactly what the doctor ordered as the hosts were able to dispatch Lewis-Clark State from Idaho in straight sets 25-19, 25-22, 25-17.
TMU entered the match without the services of Morgan Koch, the lone senior on the roster, who is sidelined with an injury. However, the ladies appeared comfortable from the start and only trailed once during the first set. A couple thunderous kills form Madi Fay (Santa Clarita, CA) highlighted the offensive attack.
Photo courtesy of Karon Walls
The second set was more of a struggle for the Mustangs, but they were able to valiantly battle through a back and forth affair to take control of the match. Throughout the entire evening, two underclassmen led the way offensively.  Sophomore Rebecca Davis (Kingsburg, CA) and the aforementioned Madi Fay paced TMU with 9 kills each. Fay proved to be quite efficient on the evening with at .318 hitting percentage.
Coach Allan Vince commented, "Following the graduation of five starters last school year, I was unsure how this season would begin. After only 16 days of being together for double day training, the team has already shown great maturity and unity."
Maturing is precisely the process this young team must grow through. Contributions came from multiple places as sophomore Mackenzie Delo (Chandler, AZ) served tough and defended well with 7 digs, matching Makenna Hafner's (Yucaipa, CA) 7 digs. Tonight the home crowd was afforded the opportunity to catch a glimpse of what this team can become as the season progresses.
Junior setter Kayla Sims (Anchorage, AK) was solid throughout the match orchestrating the offense with 29 assists.
"Tonight's match set a standard for how we want to play this season, and I am very pleased to have a victorious first match on our home court," added Vince.
The Mustangs improved their record to 1-4 on the season while Lewis & Clark State fall to 0-5. TMU will return to action next Saturday night at 7:00 pm as they welcome Providence Christian to Bross Court.
