The Master's women's volleyball team used strong hitting and a dominating defense to sweep the Hope International Royals 25-13, 25-23, 25-13 Saturday in The MacArthur Center.
The Lady Mustangs (8-4, 2-0 GSAC) more than doubled the Royals in kills (46-22), doubled the number of blocks (4-2) and rolled with the aces (7-2).
As a team TMU hit .337 and held HIU to .062. There was also a decided advantage in digs (49-36).
"Our girls played a pretty solid game," said TMU Head Coach Annett Davis. "It's fun to see them continuing to develop, and playing steady for the most part."
The Master's took the first three points of the first set and used a pair of 5-point runs to stretch their lead to double digits. TMU was able to snag three of the final four points to get the 12-point set win.
The Royals took advantage of three attack errors by the Lady Mustangs, as well as taking three kills from leading hitter Cassidy Koffroth, to jump out to a 6-2 advantage at the start of the second set. They maintained that advantage up to 11-7, but The Master's was able to get a 4-point run to tie the set at 11-11. Both teams traded the lead back and forth, but after it was tied 20-20, TMU got kills from
Andrea Barrera and
Grace Colburn to help take a 3-point lead before
Ruby Duncan got a pair of kills to seal the set 25-23 in favor of the Lady Mustangs.
The third set was all TMU as the Lady Mustangs jumped out to an 8-1 start and never looked back. Hope International  was able to get to within five at 18-13, but a 7-0 run, punctuated by four Duncan kills, sealed the match for The Master's.
Duncan finished with a game-high 17 kills, followed by Colburn's 16.Â
"Ruby and Grace had excellent offensive games," Davis said. "They are a tough duo."Â
Timberlie Miller doled out 36 assists in the three sets, with Barrera leading the defense as she was involved in all four blocks.
The Master's will be back home on Thursday as they host Arizona Christian in The MacArthur Center. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
