For the upcoming NAIA Coaches' Poll that is set to be released on Wednesday, (RV) TMU Men's Volleyball is staking its claim to be ranked in the top-15 for the first time in program history.
For the third time in as many tries, the Mustangs defeated a nationally-ranked opponent, defeating No. 15 UC Merced in four sets (25-15, 25-19, 23-25, 25-16) on Saturday afternoon inside The MacArthur Center.
"It was a really strong team win today and the guys battled really hard," Master's Head Coach
Jared Goldberg said. "This was one of our first games our guys were really competing right from the start."
Master's could not have started much brighter, racing out to a 6-0 lead off the serving of
Johnny Buchanan. Two Buchanan service aces and two
Trent Norkus kills sent the Mustangs on their way, as the Bobcats got no closer than five the remainder of the set.
The two teams then battled back-and-forth in the second set, with the game tied at 18-18. From then on, though, Master's scored seven of the final eight points of the set, punctuated by a
Brock Gardner and
Will Avera block.
TMU looked poised for its second sweep of the season, leading 19-15 in the third set after a 6-0 run. But UC Merced fought back to win the set and force a fourth stanza.
"We had a lead late in the third set and our side out offense broke down a little bit," Goldberg said.
The visitors threatened to force a fifth and deciding set, but with Master's ahead 12-11, the Mustangs scored the next seven points to all but secure the four-set victory.
Two Norkus kills capped off that 7-0 run as part of a big day for the freshman opposite hitter, who led the team in kills for the second-straight match.
"The team followed the scouting report really well today and it helped lead to a big day offensively from both
Trent Norkus and
Diego Perez," Goldberg said.
Both Norkus (16 kills) and Perez (14 kills) reached double-digit kills, with Norkus also leading the team with three service aces. Buchanan dished out a team-high 35 assists, while
Wyatt Bates (11 digs), Buchanan (10 digs) and Perez (nine digs) paced the team defensively.
After a busy stretch of three matches in three days, Master's (5-3 overall) has a week until its next match on Feb. 12, when TMU hosts Saint Katherine at 1 p.m.
