Box Score The Master's men's volleyball team has moved on to the GSAC Championship match with a four-set win over Ottawa of Arizona Friday.
The Mustangs (16-4) dropped the first set 20-25, but came back and won the next three 27-25, 25-20, 25-23.
TMU had 60 kills compared to the Spirit's 50, won the block battle (11-7), had more aces (6-3) and finished the match hitting .299.
"Glad we won the close sets. Anytime you get into battles like that, the team that wins the close sets win the match," said Head Coach
Jared Goldberg. "And the guys finished well. Offensively it was not the cleanest match we've had, but at the end of the day we pulled it off."
OUAZ jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set, but the Mustangs fought back, closing to within a point several times. But the Spirit closed out the set with the last three points to win it 25-20.
The Master's scored four in a row midway through the second set to take a 13-10 lead. But the Spirit would not go away, tying the set and actually getting to a 25-24 set point. But a kill by
Braden Van Groningen and two hitting errors by OUAZ gave the 27-25 win to TMU.
The Master's rode that momentum through the start of the third set, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. Again, OUAZ fought back, getting to within a point 17-16. The Mustangs finished off the set on an 8-4 run to win it 25-20.
The fourth set went back and forth, with neither side generating a run or grabbing momentum. But when OUAZ scored three out of four points to take a 16-13 lead, it seemed they would rie that. But TMU would go on a 12-7 run to close out the set 25-23 and win the match.
The GSAC Player of the Year,
Nolan Flexen, finished with a game-high 27 kills, a .375 hitting percentage and two aces.
Braden Van Groningen had 11 kills,
Matthew Hamm had 53 assists and
Diego Perez handled 18 digs.
The Master's will now face Vanguard for the conference championship and the automatic bid to the national championship tournament. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.
