TMU Women's Volleyball hands OUAZ first GSAC loss

The Master's University women's indoor volleyball team returned to its winning ways on Tuesday evening, sweeping Ottawa University Arizona, 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 27-25), in Golden State Athletic Conference action.
 
OUAZ (6-4 overall, 4-1 GSAC) entered the match unbeaten in conference play, as the Spirit tried to separate itself from the rest of the GSAC East. However, coming off a home loss to Life Pacific, Master's (4-1 overall, 2-1 GSAC) made sure it remained very much alive toward the top of the conference standings.
 
"The things that we worked on in practice we executed in our match," TMU head coach Annett Davis said. "The team was extremely focused on each play and didn't allow for a lot of runs."
 
The Mustangs only trailed once in the opening set, 1-2, as three separate 3-0 runs helped Master's develop a lead. With the score 21-18 in favor of the Mustangs, three consecutive Jessi Swenning kills sparked a 4-0 TMU streak to finish off the set.
 
That momentum carried into the second set, with two Katie Emmerling service aces fueling a 4-0 start for the Mustangs. Six-straight Spirit points then gave OUAZ a 7-5 lead, but later in the set TMU flipped the script and scored seven-in-a-row itself to take a 21-16 advantage. A Swenning kill claimed the second set for Master's by an identical scoreline as the first set.
 
The third set went back-and-forth, with OUAZ on the verge of sending the match to a fourth set. However, a Swenning kill and a Faith Tarver block helped the Mustangs save two set points and tie the third up at 24 apiece.
 
The Spirit scored next to set up another set point, but TMU responded to score the final three points, punctuated by Tarver and Emily Scott combining for a block.
 
"Our block was solid today, which made our defense a little easier," Davis said.
 
Swenning led Master's with 11 kills on the day, while Tarver added seven of her own. Emmerling's four service aces and 28 assists paced the Mustangs. Karli Stults, who also served two aces herself, posted the most digs by any TMU player with 16.
 
Tarver and Kinzi Lockhart each recorded nine digs, while Madi Maitland and Scott each tallied three blocks to lead Master's.
 
The two teams are scheduled to square-off once again on Wednesday, with first serve set for noon Pacific Standard Time.