Hope International's Natalie Hadder hammered the ball over the net and off the arms of a Mustang defender, the ball carrying into the air and nearly reaching the ceiling inside Darling Pavilion.
The Mustangs' tightwire act was officially over, Master's having defied match point twice in set four and two more times in the finale before Hope secured a 3-2 win (26-24, 22-25, 25-15, 26-28, 15-7).
The victory gave the Royals their first regular-season sweep of the Mustangs since 2010 and moved Hope more than a full match ahead of Master's in the tight Golden State Athletic Conference standings. The Royals (16-7, 10-3 GSAC) have won 10 of their last 11 matches, and they remain unbeaten at home for the year.
The Mustangs (14-9, 8-4) – now in a tie for fourth place – did not go quietly.
Regan Tate totaled 15 kills and
Jane Cisar added 14.
Katie Emmerling compiled a match-high 45 assists and
McKenna Hafner had 34 digs. It all helped Master's force a fifth set on a night it struggled to avoid errors and didn't serve particularly well.
"I'm proud of the girls' fight," said head coach
Allan Vince. "Hope is currently on an upswing and I thought we battled them tough but came up a little short."
Hope, which holds a half-game lead over Westmont for first place, secured a 2-1 lead by narrowly winning set one and benefiting from TMU's poor night on the attack. The Mustangs hit -.50 in set three and made 44 errors in all. The Royals made only 30 errors and threatened to end the night early.
In the fourth set, Hope pulled ahead 25-24. But
Emilye Grace Williams produced a powerful kill to prolong the match.
After the Royals went back in front 26-25, Emmerling fed Cisar for a kill. Then Tate followed with a kill to give Master's the lead, and a Royal error meant the Mustangs would play a fifth set for the sixth time this season.
"We have fight in us," Cisar said. "But we can't depend on winning from others' errors. We have to be able to finish things off of our own merit and not the other team's mistakes."
Hope made no such fatal mistakes.
The Royals built a 10-3 lead in set five and extended it to 14-5 before Master's mustered a brief run of two points.
Then Hadder sent the ball, and the Mustangs, into the night.
"We had a little bit of trouble connecting and keeping our energy consistent the whole way through," Tate said. "We turned into islands at crucial moments and let several runs of points go."
