There's a chance Tuesday's five-set win over Life Pacific will factor heavily into the trajectory of The Master's University's season.
TMU Women's Volleyball found something after falling behind two sets to one inside The MacArthur Center: a moxie they hope will characterize them throughout the rest of the campaign.
"I think our mindset and energy flipped," said TMU setter Katie Emmerling, who finished with a season-high 45 assists. "Rather than us trying not to lose, we changed our mindset to fighting to win."
The Mustangs (3-0) certainly had to claw their way back into this one after Life Pacific (4-4) took a commanding lead in what was both teams' Golden State Athletic Conference opener.
Down two sets to one, TMU head coach Annett Davis let assistant coach Amy Buffham say a few words in the huddle before set four.
"Amy gave a speech that I think sparked the fire," Davis said.
The Mustangs came out and scored five of the set's first six points, highlighted by kills from Emilye Grace Williams and Madi Maitland. Life Pacific eventually forced a 14-14 tie, but TMU never trailed on the way to forcing a fifth set.
"We blocked much better and started playing with a bit more fire," Davis said. "Sometimes believing that you can do something makes all the difference. I think we started to believe it, and we started to play like we could win."
The Mustangs fell behind 3-1 in the deciding set, but a Maitland kill tied the score at six. And back-to-back kills from Faith Tarver gave the Mustangs the lead for good.
Emmerling said some of the credit for the massive turnaround goes to TMU's bench.
"The bench really helped us by being really loud," she said.
Williams led the Mustangs with 12 kills. She now has double-digit kills in each of the two matches she's played in this season, leading TMU in the category on both occasions.
Emmerling produced a strong all-around final line. In addition to the 45 assists (three shy of her career high), she had four kills, three blocks and 16 digs.
Maitland had 11 kills, and Jessi Swenning and Tarver each added 10. Emily Scott and Maitland each totaled four blocks. And Karli Stults produced a career high 21 digs, three more than Tarver.
The Mustangs will host Life Pacific again on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Fans will not be admitted, but live stats and video will be available at gomustangs.com/watch.
