Mustangs win first match as ranked team

In its first match as a ranked team in program history, No. 12 TMU Men's Volleyball swept University of Saint Katherine on Saturday afternoon inside The MacArthur Center by set scores of 25-22, 25-18, 25-19.
 
"It was great getting another win today and capping off a bit of a slower week for us," Master's Head Coach Jared Goldberg said.
 
Saturday's match was the Mustangs' only contest this week, after playing three last week and gearing up for three next week when conference play begins.
 
Master's started a little slowly and trailed late in the opening set, at 21-20, prompting a TMU timeout. Upon the teams' return to the court, the Mustangs scored five of the next six points to claim the set. After Saint Katherine tied it up at 22-22, back-to-back Diego Perez kills sparked a 3-0 TMU run to give the Mustangs a one-set-to-none advantage.
 
A 4-1 start to the second sent Master's on its way to a comfortable set victory in which the Firebirds got no closer than two from that point on.
 
The third set was more competitive, being tied as late as 14-14, but once again the Mustangs never trailed before a Ben Herb kill clinched TMU's second sweep victory of the season.
 
Reigning NAIA Attacker of the Week Perez led all players with 19 kills with a .500 attack %, while Trent Norkus (10 kills, .300 attack %) and Ben Herb (nine kills, .474 attack %) also had efficient offensive performances.
 
Johnny Buchanan dished out a match-high 37 assists, while Wyatt Bates (nine digs) and Ethan Egger (seven digs) led the defense from their shared libero position.
 
Master's (6-3 overall) returns to The MacArthur Center on Thursday for a 7 p.m. match against Pacific Union College, before beginning Golden State Athletic Conference play on Friday at 6 p.m. against Arizona Christian University.
 
"As we start to prep for conference play next week, hopefully we can continue to get a bit sharper and clean up some of the simple mistakes," Goldberg said.