Master's continues growing process in loss to UC Merced

Ups and downs were expected during the inaugural season of men's volleyball at The Master's University.
 
One week after winning two matches in a single day, the Mustangs fell to UC Merced in three sets, 25-21, 25-12, and 25-17.
 
"Getting past the scores, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of individual team growth I saw this weekend," said TMU head coach Allan Vince.
 
The loss capped a tough, two-day stretch for the Mustangs (3-6, 0-6 GSAC), who lost to Menlo on Friday evening.
 
Junior middle blocker Brett Norkus paced the Mustangs with eight kills and tied for team-high honors with two blocks.
 
Norkus leads the Mustangs with 28 blocks this season.

"This weekend was definitely a wake-up call for us," Norkus said. "We didn't play up to our potential and we all felt that. We're going to get back in the gym this coming week and smooth out where we struggled and apply it to our games moving forward."
 
Freshman Ezra Moore, the club leader in assists (195), had a team-high 16 on Saturday. Sophomore Oscar Talavera-Castanoli had a team-high five digs.
 
The Mustangs stayed with the Bobcats in the first set, leading 6-4 at one point and trailing 20-19 late before the hosts scored five of the next seven points to win.
 
The Bobcats used runs of four and five points, respectively, in the second set to win easily.
 
Consecutive kills from Norkus and Moore drew the Mustangs even at 3-3 in the third set and later a 4-0 burst pulled the club within 14-11.
 
The Bobcats answered with three straight points, and the Mustangs couldn't get closer than four the rest of the way.
 
The Mustangs return to Southern California and close out a six-game road swing on Tuesday evening at Vanguard University.