The Master's University beach volleyball team came close to defeating the University of Utah before falling to Loyola Marymount University, ranked seventh in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Poll, on Saturday at the TMU Beach Volleyball Complex.
"Against Utah we were very close to winning the match, winning in the ones and fours spots and taking them to three sets in the twos and fives spots," Master's head coach
Annett Davis said of her team's 3-2 loss. "We had new combinations of teammates today with not much practice together, so for us to be so close was a great accomplishment."
Against the Utes,
Kylie Clouse and
Caihannah-Jane Catabona won in straight-sets at number four: 21-15, 21-14. At number two,
Chloe Johnson and
Tara Delk rebounded from dropping the first set, 15-21, to win the second one in resounding fashion, 21-9. However, Utah took the third set, 15-11, to even up the overall match.
Utah then defeated
Kasie Spencer and
Hannah Wood at number three (21-9, 21-12) to take a 2-1 lead. The Mustangs came close to tying the match through
Anna Poole and
Alicia Castillo, TMU's number-five pairing. After falling in the first set, 18-21, the duo claimed the second in thrilling fashion, 25-23, before narrowly dropping the third, 13-15.
The Mustangs' top-pairing of
Katie Emmerling and
Desi Brown bounced back from a first-set loss (14-21) to take the next two by scores of 21-19 and 15-12, extending its winning streak to eight matches overall, including four-straight wins against NCAA Division I opposition.
Unfortunately, that streak ended in the afternoon match against Loyola Marymount, with the Lions winning by a final score of 5-0. LMU swept all five matches in straight-sets, including against Emmerling and Brown: 21-14, 21-16.
Johnson and Delk were the other TMU duo to score double-digit points in both sets, while Poole and Castillo scored 17 points in the first set of their loss, the most scored by a Master's pairing against Loyola Marymount (12-2 overall).
"Playing NCAA Division I schools is such a great experience for our team," Davis said. "You can't get better by playing teams that are easy to beat. Our girls are learning what it takes to be great. Losing isn't fun, but the lessons you learn from losses are immeasurable."
Before Saturday's matches, the Mustangs honored their five graduating seniors –
Kimberly Arispe,
Hannah Douglas, Spencer, Emmerling and Brown.
TMU returns to the beach on Monday, this time in Northridge, as Master's will take on NCAA Division I CSUN (3-4 overall) and NCAA Division II Colorado Mesa (2-3 overall).
Interested in playing for TMU? Fill out a recruiting questionnaire.
