Mustang volleyball drops two in Missouri

This early-season trip to Missouri was going to be a test for The Master's University women's volleyball team.
 
It would give the nation's 15^th-ranked team an idea where they were just over two weeks into the season and where they needed to go to establish themselves as one of the country's top programs.
 
Day one of the Hampton Inn Classic at Columbia College showed the Mustangs they were competitive with a ways to go as they fell to William Woods (Mo.) and No.1 Park of Missouri.
 
"We played tough on our side of the net and stayed together the whole day," said TMU head coach Allan Vince.  "We didn't score as much as we should have against two strong-blocking and defensive teams." 
 
In the opener on Friday, the Mustangs took William Woods to five sets before falling 27-25, 22-25, 27-25, 23-25, and 8-15.
 
The Mustangs trailed only three times in the opening set and won it on a service ace from junior transfer Katie Emmerling.
 
Emmerling finished with a match-high 46 assists.
 
In the second set, TMU led by as many seven points (16-9) but watched the Owls score 16 of the final 22 points to even the match.
 
The Mustangs got a tie-breaking service ace from senior libero McKenna Hafner and a set-winning kill by senior middle blocker Jane Cisar to win the third set 27-25.
 
In the fourth set, the Mustangs led only once (17-16) and tied it at 23-all before the Owls used a service error and a kill to knot the match again.
 
In the deciding set, the Owls snapped a 5-5 tie and tore off a 10-3 run to win the match.
 
Senior outside hitter Regan Tate paced the Mustangs with 17 kills and Hafner finished with a match-high 18 digs.
 
Against top-ranked Park, the Mustangs dropped the first set 25-18 and then evened the match by winning the second set by a similar score
 
However, the Pirates broke open the third and fourth sets with big runs to win going away 25-14 and 25-12.
 
Tate paced the Mustangs with 11 kills, Emmerling added a match-best 39 assists, and Hafner tacked on a team-high 21 digs.
 
"Park was scrappy and that was disheartening for our hitters who couldn't seem to find the open net or court," said Vince.

The club wraps up its play in Missouri on Saturday, taking on No. 2 and host Columbia at 9:00am (PDT) and then finishing against Olivet Nazarene (IL) four hours later.
 
Vince said, "We knew this trip would be a very challenging one, so I want to make sure we get the most of our team experience.  Tomorrow's a new day with new opportunities to win."