Box Score For the first time in a regular-season game, the No. 2-ranked The Master's men's volleyball team defeated the defending NAIA champions and current No. 1 team in the country, the Vanguard Lions, 25-18, 25-22, 25-16 Friday night in The MacArthur Center.
In 10 previous meetings, the Mustangs (16-2, 5-1) had only defeated the Lions twice, and both times those wins were in the GSAC post-season tournament. The Lions were 7-0 during the regular season, and also defeated TMU in the semifinals of the 2023 NAIA National Championships.
The win also avenges a five-set loss to the Lions back on Feb. 24 in Costa Mesa. TMU has now won seven matches in a row since that loss.
"Going into the match I had no idea how we were going to play, and our guys showed up right from the start," said TMU Head Coach
Jared Goldberg. "That's a really talented team [Vanguard], and we're going to see them more and more. As we've seen before, those types of matches can go either way. But our whole team played really well together as a unit defensively."
The first set was tied at 6-6 when The Master's went on a 10-2 run to go up 16-8 and take control of the match. Vanguard only got to within five before TMU pulled away for the seven-point first set win.
"Preston [Schmidt] made some of the best defensive plays I've seen him make and that turned the tide in that first set," Goldberg said.
In the second set, the Lions were able to go up 10-9, only to see the Mustangs go on a 13-6 run to grab a 22-16 advantage. VU was able to grab five of the next six points to close the gap to 23-21, but two
Isaac Seltzer kills in the next three points secured the 25-22 set two win.
The Master's opened up the third set on a 10-2 run to completely take control of the momentum in the match. After Vanguard closed the gap to 10-5, the Mustangs scored 11 of the next 17 points to go up 21-11. From there it was a back-and-forth until The Master's secured the match with a 25-16 third-set victory.
"What was so good about that first set was we earned a lot of those plays," Goldberg said. "We were making plays rather than waiting for something to happen. And I think that continued through the second set, which we finished really well. And the third set we just got a great start and we were able to sustain it."
The Mustangs hit .272 for the match, below their season average of .355. But they held Vanguard, a team that has hit .375 in their first 11 matches, to .250.
Diego Perez finished with 12 kills and
Braden Van Groningen had nine. Both players are now tied for the most all-time kills in program history with 437 each.
Patrick Paragas had 26 assists and a team-high three blocks and two service aces.
The Master's will travel to Fullerton, Calif, on Saturday for a conference match against Hope International. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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