Resilience may be the word of the year for The Master's University men's volleyball team.
Even in a straight-set loss to Vanguard Tuesday night in Costa Mesa, the Mustangs showed "the ability to bounce or spring back…"
After losing the first set 25-7, the Mustangs bounced back to challenge the Lions before losing the final two sets 25-17 and 25-13.
"Our serving game improved tonight and I was excited to see our hustle on defense," said TMU head coach
Allan Vince. "To get hits that no one thought were gettable."
Freshman
Brandon Botdorf, the club leader in kills, led the club with eight and added two blocks.
Junior
Brett Norkus had a team-high four blocks and leads the club with 32.
Freshman
Ezra Moore recorded a team-high 11 assists and tacked on seven digs.
Sophomore
Wyatt Bates had a solid all-around match, highlighted by eight digs, four kills, and two aces.
After losing decisively in the first set, the Mustangs drew even twice in the second set (8-8 and 9-9) and were down only 13-12 before the Lions eventually used a 12-5 run to win.
The Mustangs could have folded after Vanguard started the third set with seven straight points.
They didn't and almost halved the deficit at 11-5.
But the Lions proved to be too tough, reeling off five of the next six points to establish a double-digit lead.
TMU pulled within eight points twice, the last time at 18-10, but the Lions scored seven of the next 10 points to claim the victory.
The Mustangs (3-7, 0-7 GSAC) return home on Friday evening to host Ottawa of Arizona in a 6:00 p.m. start in The MacArthur Center.
"The positives, correct the errors, and move forward with a new team dynamic for Friday," said Vince. "Keep going and keep growing as our motto."
