It was an epic battle.
Two teams went toe to toe, punch to punch, attack to attack.
And after nearly two-and-a-half hours, it was Vanguard, ranked No. 20 in the most recent NAIA Top 25 women's volleyball poll, that came away with a five-set win over The Master's Mustangs.
"We showed a lot of potential tonight," said Annett Davis, head coach of Master's women's volleyball. "Though our stats weren't impressive the girls fought hard."
Both teams had 52 kills; both teams has 12 blocks; and Master's had nine aces to Vanguard's seven. But neither team hit particularly well with the Mustangs taking a .109 to .080 advantage.
The Mustangs (8-6, 3-4 in GSAC) took the first set 25-22 and held the lead throughout the second set. But an ace followed by key kills gave the Lions a 20-18 lead. Coach Davis called a timeout, and while the Mustangs got the next two points to tie it, Vanguard grabbed the momentum with three straight points and eventually won the set 25-21.
In the fourth set, Vanguard had the lead to 11-10 then knocked off 11 straight points to take a 22-10 advantage. After trading points, Master's then put together 10 straight points themselves to climb to within two at 23-21. But Vanguard took advantage of two errors by the Mustangs to win the set 25-21 and set up the decisive set five.
In the fifth set, the teams traded points with Masters's grabbing an 8-7 lead. But this match was nothing if not streaky, and the Lions did just that getting three straight to take a 10-8 lead. The teams traded points again, until it was 13-10 Vanguard. Then, it was Master's with a streak, grabbing three straight of their own to tie it at 13.
The teams traded points again. It climbed to 15-15, before a kill and a Master's error gave the Lions the 17-15 set win and the match victory.
Karli Stults had a career night with 31 digs. Jessi Swenning led Master's with 14 kills, followed by 13 from
Faith Tarver and 12 from
Ruby Duncan.
Breanna Brooks continues to be a defensive wall as she had a season-high nine blocks.
"Karli had a career night digging 31 balls. It seems like she gets better and better," Coach Davis said. "Jessi had an impressive night hitting over 500 on 27 swings. And Breanna did a great job stopping them with her net play."
Master's is back home Tuesday night as they will take on Hope International. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
