Maybe because his job description demands he keep the ball off the floor at all costs, Master's libero Oscar Talavera-Castanoli was the only player on either team who didn't stop when a Ryan Fooks attack dove into the net Saturday.
The ball caromed toward the ground, where Talavera-Castanoli flicked it off the tape and down onto Arizona Christian's side.
On another day, the circus shot might have sparked a fiery comeback by the home team, the Mustangs rallying from a two-set deficit to earn their first Golden State Athletic Conference win.
Instead, Arizona Christian's shock was limited to Talavera-Castanoli's highlight.
The Mustangs twice came within a point of winning Saturday's third set, but the Firestorm rallied on both occasions, with help from TMU, to earn a 3-0 victory by scores of 25-21, 25-23 and 28-26.
"We missed serves in critical moments and it killed the momentum we'd built," said Master's sophomore Wyatt Bates, who finished with eight kills.
Brandon Botdorf, who produced a career-high 14 kills earlier in the week in a win over Westcliff, matched Bates with eight kills. But the star duo wasn't efficient and neither was the rest of TMU's attack. Master's hit .022 and made 28 errors.
All the while, the Mustangs felt they were constantly on the verge of making a run.
"We were very confident that if we took one set, and got over the hump, that it would produce the extra momentum and energy we needed," Botdorf said. "Every timeout we kept saying, 'Just one.'"
But untimely errors kept getting in the way. In set two, with the score tied 22-22, two attack errors and a service error dropped the Mustangs into a hole they couldn't climb out of.
"This was one of our most challenging matches yet because of our unforced errors," said Master's head coach Allan Vince. "The errors compounded each game not allowing us any room to build momentum. Our successful team dynamic began to separate into individual efforts, And we are not able to win with one person's efforts. If we are going to finish this season strong, we have to be reminded that our focus is to glorify God in all that we do. When that happens then our team dynamic is unstoppable."
Ezra Moore recorded 32 assists, the third time this season he has surpassed 30. Brett Norkus had five kills, and Fooks had a career-high four.
Bates said TMU's locker room wasn't disheartened by the loss.
"Our morale is never super down," he said. "We are always looking for ways to grow and learn how we can become better, and today we saw a lot of ways we can improve."
