Mustangs rally back to beat Firestorm

After dropping the first set against Arizona Christian University on Friday night, TMU Women's Volleyball stormed back to win the final three and take the Golden State Athletic Conference match in four sets (24-26, 25-20, 26-24, 25-21).
 
"The team played more consistently tonight," Master's Head Coach Annett Davis said. "Even though we lost the first set, we played some good volleyball during it."
 
The Mustangs held a 24-20 lead over the Firestorm in the first set, before ACU rallied back to score six-straight points and take a one-set-to-none advantage.
 
The visitors continued their momentum to start the second set, scoring the first two points. A kill and service ace by Ruby Duncan sparked TMU on a 5-0 run that helped the Mustangs take the lead. ACU responded with a 5-0 streak of its own, regaining its advantage, 11-10, only for Master's to surge ahead and win the set by five points.
 
Arizona Christian looked destined to go ahead two-sets-to-one, leading 24-20. But the roles from the first set were reversed, as this time it was TMU who flipped the script and won six-consecutive points to win the set. Two Faith Tarver kills fueled the late-set rally.
 
The visitors would not go down without a fight though, leading by as many as six in the fourth and ultimately final set. However, Master's scored 12 of the final 15 points to complete its comeback. A combined block by Natalie Collins and Duncan clinched the match for TMU.
 
The Mustangs hit .254 as a team on the night and held an 18-9 advantage in service aces.
 
"Our setter and middle hitter connection was on tonight, which helps to spread out our offense," Davis said. "Our service aces also helped us to score when we needed it."
 
Tarver led Master's in kills with 14, while Duncan (seven service aces, three blocks) was next with 11.
 
"ACU gets a lot of balls up on defense, so we had to be prepared to put the ball away by making smart swings," Davis said. "Faith Tarver and Ruby Duncan did that well."
 
Natalie Collins' 32 assists and 11 digs led the team in both categories, while Emily Scott's four blocks were the most by any player.
 
Master's (8-16 overall, 4-10 GSAC) returns to The MacArthur Center on Saturday at 2 p.m. against No. 19 Ottawa University Arizona.