The choreography was dynamic even if the swing didn't pack its usual punch.
Emily Scott ran a slide from her middle blocker position, wrapping around to the right side and jumping to meet Katie Emmerling's set. Scott swung, the ball coming awkwardly off her hand and nonetheless falling into an empty portion of the floor for a point in Friday's second set.
Scott, in the midst of a breakout season, covered her mouth to conceal a smile.
Early on, it was that kind of night for Master's— and specifically its middles, who seemingly could do no wrong — as the Mustangs built a two-set advantage over one of the other teams clumped near the top of the Golden State Athletic Conference standings.
But in a reversal of these teams' meeting in Costa Mesa earlier this season, Vanguard roused itself and earned three straight wins to take the match 3-2 inside The MacArthur Center.
It was TMU's second straight loss in five sets.
Master's middle blocker Jane Cisar, who finished with a match-high 18 kills and only three errors, said the decisive shift was more about what Vanguard did than what the Mustangs didn't do. Namely, the Lions (21-6, 10-4 GSAC) roared to life.
"I don't think we played that much different in the last three sets," said Cisar, whose team dropped to 14-10 overall and 8-5 in GSAC. "Vanguard just really stepped it up and figured out where our weak spots were and figured out that we weren't closing the block and that they could set (Kamelah Noel) all night long and she could keep hitting hard crosses."
Noel finished with 16 kills for Vanguard, which suffered its only home defeat of the season on Sept. 28 when Master's rallied from a 2-1 deficit to wrestle away the win in five.
Friday, Vanguard returned the favor.
Master's recorded respectable hitting percentages in the night's first two sets, but it didn't rise over .100 for the rest of the evening, hitting -.53 in the fifth set, a frame in which Vanguard never trailed.
The Lions remain one win back of first-place Hope International in GSAC standings, while five teams are within 2.5 wins of first. Master's and William Jessup are tied for fifth place, 2.5 back.
"We definitely made more errors in the last three sets than the first two," Cisar said, "but overall I think they stepped up their game, and we weren't able to step up with them."
Scott, who set a career high with 11 kills, said one key to TMU's early success was that Vanguard sold out to block the pins, leaving the middle open for Scott and Cisar.
The duo combined for nine kills and no errors in the first set and eight kills and one error in the second. For that, Scott also credited TMU's passing and Emmerling's setting.
Emmerling finished with 45 assists, marking her third straight match with at least 44. Regan Tate had 14 kills for Master's, and McKenna Hafner totaled 23 digs.
Cisar said the night wasn't without positives.
"It gives us a lesson to work on," she said. "… It teaches us to want to finish a game."
