As The Master's University women's volleyball team tottered on the edge of going to a fifth set with San Diego Christian on Tuesday, Mustang head coach
Annett Davis had a simple message for her team.
The Mustangs, Davis said, needed to come out swinging. Tipping and hitting free balls wouldn't get the job done.
"She told us we're a powerful team and we better start playing like one," said senior
Madi Maitland.
The Mustangs responded in the fourth set with a crushing 14-1 run that paved the way for a 3-1 win over the Hawks in El Cajon, Calif. Set scores were 20-25, 25-15, 25-20 and 25-15.
It's safe to say Davis' message got through.
"We kept saying the same thing: We've got to hit the ball hard,'" said Maitland, who finished with 10 kills. "It sounds simple, but we were playing soft. We were tipping and hitting free balls because we were timid about making mistakes. We said we're going to hit the ball hard and see what happens."
Good things followed.
The Mustangs turned a 7-2 deficit in the fourth set into a 16-8 lead. Maitland and
Ruby Duncan each recorded two kills during the run, which was capped by an
Emily Scott kill.
The surge told the story of the match as a whole – the Mustangs (2-0) starting slow before finding a rhythm. TMU dropped Tuesday's first set before coming back to hit .333 in set two, with 12 kills and just three errors.
Duncan played a significant role in the win. Playing in her first collegiate match, she had a team-high 11 kills.
"Ruby had big shoes to fill tonight," Maitland said. "None of us were worried about her taking on that challenge. She did exactly what we needed her to do and more."
Katie Emmerling led TMU with 34 assists.
Emily Scott added four blocks and four aces. And
Faith Tarver (15),
Karli Stults (12) and Emmerling (12) each finished in double figures for digs.
The Mustangs are scheduled to play Life Pacific at TMU on Feb. 16 and 17. No fans will be admitted, but live stats will be available at GoMustangs.com/Watch.
