For the second time this year, The Master's men's volleyball team lost to No. 1 Vanguard in straight sets 24-26, 18-25, 19-25.
The No. 5 Mustangs (9-4, 4-3 GSAC) hit .195 compared to the Lions' .390, falling behind in kills (31-43) and blocks (6-8).
"Vanguard played really well tonight and did a good job defensively slowing down our offense," said Head Coach
Jared Goldberg. "We weren't able to get into a great rhythm. Against such a good serving team we did a good job of handling that pressure."
The first set was the tightest of the three, with TMU leading for most of the game. The Mustangs led by three on five different occasions, the last as late as 19-16. After a kill by
Isaac Seltzer gave The Master's a 22-20 lead, Vanguard went 4-0 run to bring it to set point. The Mustangs tied it at 24-24, but after a timeout by the Lions, VU got a kill and a block to get the 26-24 first set win.
Nolan Flexen led The Master's with nine kills, Seltzer had eight and
Braden Van Groningen seven.
Will Avera added five blocks and
Bryce Jones dished 28 assists.
The Mustangs are back home Tuesday and Wednesday for a pair of non-conference matches. The defending NAIA champions Grand View (IA) will be in The MacArthur Center on Tuesday with William Penn (IA) playing Wednesday. Both matches start at 6 p.m.
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