At some point in set three of TMU's 3-1 win over La Sierra University on Thursday, Master's senior
Kayla Sims lofted a high-arcing, hardly-menacing serve into the middle of the Golden Eagles defense – about as dangerous as a, well, "lollipop."
"I was struggling with my serve early on," Sims said, "and coach remined me that I'm a good server and that I wasn't a 'lollipop server,' that I needed to attack with my serve and be confident in it. I went into set four with confidence knowing he was confident in me."
Sims peppered La Sierra (2-1) with well-placed line drives in the deciding set at Darling Pavilion in Fullerton, serving 11 straight times, recording three aces and spotting the Mustangs a 10-1 lead.
She finished the match with six aces, which tied a career high. And TMU went on to win set four, 25-13, improving to 3-0 on the year and distancing itself from a shaky, back-and-forth second set, the first set it dropped this season.
"We came in after that set and said, 'Hey, we're not that team," Sims said.
Instead, the Mustangs again showed an ability to finish sets in a way that evaded it a year ago, winning by scores of 25-22, 21-25, 25-19 and 25-13.
TMU is off to its best start since 2012, when it won 18 of its first 20 games.
The Mustangs aren't getting ahead of themselves, though. They were set to play Wayland Baptist University (Texas) later in the day Thursday, the final leg of the Hope Summer Slam tournament's four-match slate.
"It feels good," Sims said of being undefeated. "A lot better start. The team discipline this year is a lot better. We come out knowing we're a winning team. Last year, we got used to losing and not coming out with a winning mindset."
Jane Cisar recorded a team-high nine kills to give her 31 through three matches – on a .404 hitting percentage, nonetheless. She led the Mustangs in kills last season after transferring in from NCAA Division 1 University of New Mexico.
"I do feel more comfortable this year. I know these girls better. I know how they play," Cisar said Wednesday after TMU opened the season with sweeps of Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) and The Evergreen State College (Wash.).
The Mustangs kept the ball rolling Thursday morning, overcoming a 20-14 deficit in set one by closing the frame on an 11-2 run.
Master's fell behind 5-0 early in set two, recovered to forge a two-point lead late in the match and then watched La Sierra score the final six points. TMU's hitting percentage was under .100 for the first two sets. But it didn't fold.
Later, Cisar slammed home a Sims pass to seal set three, 25-19.
Regan Tate finished with eight kills,
Chloe Emory added seven and Sims tallied 22 assists.
McKenna Hafner posted 10 digs.
