The Master's University women's volleyball team did something that no team has been able to do in the last five matches against Northwestern College (IA).
Take a set against No.2-ranked Raiders.
But in the end it was the Raiders who proved too strong as the Lady Mustangs lost 25-22, 21-25, 23-25, 22-25 in their second match at the College of Saint Mary Labor Day Classic in Omaha, Neb. Friday.
"Our girls fought hard and played incredible defense," said Head Coach Annett Davis. "A few less mistakes and we would have had them. I am incredibly proud of the way this team is figuring out who they are and the level of confidence they have shown in the talent God has given them."
TMU (4-3) took the first set by way of jumping out to a quick 8-2 lead.
Ruby Duncan collected three kills in those opening moments of the set.
With The Master's leading 15-9, Northwestern mounted a a 7-0 run to take the lead 16-15. But kills by Duncan and
Isabella Amet down the stretch allowed the Lady Mustangs to pull away for the 3-point set win.
Duncan had nine kills in the first set alone.
In the second set, TMU again jumped out to an early big lead, this time 12-6. And once again the Raiders went on a mid-set run, this time 12-3, to go up 18-15. TMU could not wrestle momentum back away, allowing Northwestern to claim the set.
The third was a close, back-and-forth set, with The Master's working up to a 15-12 advantage. But attack errors caught up with TMU, allowing the Raiders to close out on a 13-8 run to go up 2-1 in sets.
The decisive set again saw the teams swap blows, trading the lead back-and-forth. With the set tied at 21-21, Northwestern was able to get two kills and take advantage of a pair of attack errors by TMU to take the final set by three points and win the match.
Duncan finished with 18 kills in the match, but it was
Grace Colburn who led the team with 19. Amet finished with a career-high 15.
Timberlie Miller had 52 assists (13.0/set) in the 4-set match, just three away from her career high which she set in 2023 in a 5-set match against Life Pacific. Sietrra Hale had a season-high 26 digs, just three off her career best.
The Master's will be back in action Saturday in Omaha as they face No. 6 Midland (NB) University at 9 a.m. PT. The team's final match of the tournament will be against Northwest (WA) University at 1 p.m. PT
