As far as signs that The Master's University women's volleyball team is headed in the right direction, this was a pretty good one.
It took the Mustangs five matches last season to earn their first win. This year, it took three sets.
Master's opened the 2018 campaign with a 3-0 sweep of Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) on Wednesday morning in the Hope Summer Slam tournament in Fullerton, Calif.
Game scores were 25-10, 25-18 and 25-21.
Jane Cisar led the way with 11 kills, while freshman
Chloe Emory followed with seven, further cementing the storyline that this team will be propelled by a mix of experience and youth.
The Mustangs return most of a roster that persevered through an 11-17 season a year ago, using it as a learning experience and an opportunity to mature. Wednesday was the first concrete example that the group is ready to take a step forward. And it was a big one because it came away from TMU's Bross Court.
The Mustangs went 3-11 last season in road and neutral court games, including an 0-4 showing at Hope's annual tournament. They never fully recovered.
This time, Master's entered the year tied for fourth in a preseason coaches' poll, a sign that others see the potential coach
Allan Vince sees in this group.
Wednesday, an Olivet attacking error gave Master's a 5-4 lead it never relinquished in an efficient opening set. The Mustangs hit at a .423 clip and held Olivet to a -.059 mark in the first frame. Vince said he expected the defense to be improved this season, and so far, it was.
McKenna Hafner, an all-conference-caliber libero, led the team Wednesday with 19 digs.
Sarah Park tallied 16 assists, while
Kayla Sims had 12 assists, the Mustangs running a 6-2 system in order to utilize more scoring options on the net. One of those options,
Autumn Stevens added five kills and provided the answer when Olivet briefly took a lead late in set three.
The Tigers went ahead 20-19 on a service ace, before Stevens recorded a kill off a Park assist. The Mustangs took the lead on an Olivet error and never trailed again.
"I was very pleased with the composure of our team throughout the whole match," Vince said.
The coach added that most teams open the season wanting to put their skill on display "at 100% engine rev," but the Mustangs played under control.
"We cut our errors down to seven total errors per game," Vince said, "that was exceptional because it allowed us to be in-system more often and score."
