CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Behind a record-setting performance from
Will Avera, The Master's men's volleyball team defeated the University of Jamestown Jimmies in four sets Thursday to move on to the semifinals of the 2024 NAIA Men's Volleyball National Championships.
Avera broke a program and NAIA championship record with 13 blocks, falling two shy of the overall national record of 15. The team set a program record with 15 total blocks.
With his 13 blocks, Avera passes
Brett Norkus for the most blocks in a season by a TMU men's volleyball player. He now sits at 94 blocks on the season.
"I felt really locked in reading their setter and I knew from the scouting report where [the set] was going," Avera said. "But really it was my pin blockers helping a lot. Half the time I'm jumping with them trying to close the block, and Diego (Perez), Patrick (Paragas), Isaac (Seltzer) Cole (Oliver) or Braden (Van Groningen) stuffs them for me. So it's really a team effort."
Even though the Mustangs (25-2) won 25-19, 20-25, 29-27, 25-18, the Jimmies put up a strong fight. TMU hit just .211 in the match, one of their lowest efforts of the season, with the Jimmies adding 11 blocks of their own. UJ also out-served the Mustangs, collecting six aces compared to The Master's four.
"That was one of the tougher matches for us mentally," Avera said. "We weren't really clicking like we normally do, but I'm so proud of us. We really rallied together and fought through that to finish strong. It wasn't the cleanest volleyball, but I'm glad we are through it."
The first set was tight, with Jamestown taking an 18-17 lead. That's when TMU went on a 5-0 run to assert control, going on to win eight of the final nine points for the six-point set win.
The Jimmies jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second set, getting three blocks in those opening moments to wrestle the momentum away. UJ opened it up to a 12-5 advantage before the Mustangs responded with a 7-1 run to make it 13-12 Jimmies.
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Then a scare.
Isaac Seltzer went down awkwardly and had to be helped off the court. He would later return to the action after getting treatment from Athletic Trainer
Erica Fyfe.
With five blocks in the set, and The Master's hitting a season-low -.033 in the set, Jamestown would win that second set 25-20.
The Jimmies continued with the momentum in the third, jumping out to an 8-6 lead. But TMU went on a 5-0 run to re-take the lead and the momentum. The Mustangs took the lead to 20-17, only to see three-straight points go to UJ to tie it at 20-20. Back and forth it went, with both sides getting to set point, until Avera served up an ace to win it for The Master's 29-27 and give the No-1-seeded Mustangs a 2-1 advantage in sets.
"Certainly a close set, but it was important to be able to keep the lead we had," said Head Coach
Jared Goldberg. "Those sets where you win by a safety are crucial in order to be able to pull off matches."
When the fourth set got to 8-8, the Mustangs turned on the heat, taking control with a 13-2 run and opening up a double-digit lead before cruising to a 25-18 win to seal the match and launch them into Friday's semifinals.
Diego Perez led the Mustangs hitters with 12 kills, followed by both Avera and Van Groningen with nine and eight apiece for
Mason Mullins and
Cole Oliver. Paragas finished with 43 assists and
Preston Schmidt led the defense with a career-high 18 digs.
The Master's will play No. 5-seed William Penn Friday at 5:30 p.m. PT after the Statesmen defeated OUAZ to win their pool and advance to the next round.
"Nothing is given in these kind of tournaments," Avera said. "You've got to earn it and you have to fight. Even when you're not playing your best ball, it's good when you can rally. And that's something we did today. [Friday] we're going to play a really good team in William Penn and we're going to have to play cleaner volleyball. But we're also going to have to rally regardless of how clean we are. I'm looking forward to the match. It's going to be fun, but it's not going to be easy."
The other semifinal will feature No. 7 Georgetown (KY), which defeated Vanguard Thursday to advance, against No. 6 St. Xavier (IL) at 2 p.m. PT. Both semifinal matches, as well as Saturday's championship, can be seen on ESPN3.
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