Showing a healthy dose of resilience Wednesday evening, The Master's University men's volleyball team spotted Westcliff University the first set and then won the next three to beat the Warriors in a non-conference match in Garden Grove.
The 3-1 victory (17-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-20) snapped a four-match losing skid for the Mustangs (4-8).
"There was too much of a scoreboard focus in game one which propagated errors and mental lapses," said Mustang head coach
Allan Vince. "Once the guys switched their mentality at the start of game two and began playing for each other, their voice level raised their energy level up and we were able to begin executing the strategy of our game plan."
Freshman
Brandon Botdorf led the Mustangs with a career-high 14 kills, bringing his season total to a team-leading 100.
Fellow freshman
Ezra Moore had a team-high 32 assists and leads the club with 248 this season.
Senior
Josh Morton had a team-high seven digs.
After losing the opening set 25-17, the Mustangs evened the match with a three-point win in the second set.
Botdorf capped the victory with a kill.
No more than two points separated the Mustangs and Warriors in the third set until a Westcliff attack error gave TMU a 17-14 lead.
The Warriors drew within one point four times but a Botdorf kill sparked a 4-0 run that created some much-needed separation and then he finished off the set with another kill.
The Mustangs never trailed in the fourth set, taking the lead (4-3) for good on a
Wyatt Bates' kill.
Bates had four of his nine kills in the final set.
A Warrior attack error ended the match.
The Mustangs return to GSAC action on Saturday afternoon when they host Arizona Christian University at 1 p.m. in the MacArthur Center.
"It was great to see the men rebound and play Master's-style volleyball," said Vince. "All in and as one."
