Box Score Braden Van Groningen had a career-high 23 kills as The Master's men's volleyball team opened GSAC play with a 25-18, 22-25, 25-16, 25-15 win over the Park-Gilbert Buccaneers Friday.
The team hit .460 for the match, with three of the four sets actually .500 or better. TMU took the advantage in kills (66-43), blocks (7-2) and aces (6-1).
The Mustangs never lost a lead in the first set, jumping out to a 6-1 advantage. The Buccaneers got to within two, but TMU pulled away and maintained a 5-point difference throughout the set, until getting the final three points to win by seven.
The second set was a complete reverse as Park-Gilbert claimed the first four points. They increased the lead to as much as six and never let The Master's get to within two before taking the 25-22 set-two win.
That set served as motivation for the third as the Mustangs took an early lead and gradually built as the set wore on, getting up to the 9-point that won them the set and gave them a 2-1 advantage.
TMU took control of the fourth set, going on scoring runs of 3-0 and 4-0 to build a 5-point lead early on. They finished the set scoring five of the final six points to win it by 10 points and take the 4-set victory
Van Groningen's career-high 23 kills came with a hitting percentage of .588 for the match. He also had a team-high three aces.
Max McCullough tallied 12 kills and
Bryce Jones added nine.
Isaac Laing had 31 assists with Jones adding another 24. And
Will Avera led the defense with three blocks.
The Master's will have a quick turnaround as they head to Mesa Saturday to take on No. 10 Benedictine Mesa. The Redhawks are 10-2 this season and coming off a 3-set win over No. 14 Hope International Friday to open conference play. First serve is scheduled for 12 p.m. PT.
"We have a battle in front of us tomorrow against a really talented BenU Mesa team," TMU Head Coach
Jared Goldberg said.
