Mustangs can't put out Firestorm, fall in straight sets

After defeating Arizona Christian University twice already this season, The Master's University men's volleyball team could not pull off the trifecta, falling to the Firestorm on the road in straight sets (11-25, 22-25, 20-25) on Friday night.
 
"It was a tough loss tonight because we just didn't show up to compete," Master's head coach Jared Goldberg said. "ACU played a great match and showed up to play."
 
Arizona Christian came out on fire in the first set, taking an early 8-1 lead, which TMU could not recover from.
 
The second set was much more competitive, with Master's taking a late-set advantage, 22-21. However, a service error sparked ACU on a 4-0 run to win the set by three.
 
The third set followed a similar script to the first one, as the Firestorm blazed out to a quick lead, this time by a score of 10-3. The Mustangs made a few runs to get back to within four points on a few occasions, but were unable to prolong the match any longer with Arizona Christian completing the sweep.
 
Goldberg highlighted the play of Ryan Fooks (four kills, .800 attack %), Gabe Casey (one service ace) and Jacob Hafner (10 assists) in the loss.
 
"We had a good individual performance by Ryan Fooks, but unfortunately we couldn't get him the ball enough," Goldberg said. "Gabe Casey and Jake Hafner also did a great job coming off the bench to bring our team back a little bit."
 
Wyatt Bates led Master's with eight kills, with Ben Herb and Brandon Botdorf right behind with seven each. Botdorf tied with Oscar Talavera-Castanoli for the team-lead with six digs.
 
Ezra Moore led the Mustangs with his 14 assists, while Brett Norkus' two blocks were the most by any TMU player.
 
Despite the loss, Master's (2-5 overall, 2-3 GSAC) remains ahead of Arizona Christian (1-5, 1-5) in the Golden State Athletic Conference East standings.
 
Before returning home for its final two matches of the season, TMU is set to take on 12th-ranked Ottawa University Arizona (9-3, 5-0) on Saturday at noon.
 
"Now we will have a tough challenge again tomorrow trying to bounce back against Ottawa," Goldberg said.