It took the No. 14 Lady Mustangs (9-1, 1-0) four (25-18, 25-17, 24-26, 25-17) sets to knock off the Occidental Tigers in an exhibition match Friday in the MacArthur Center.
TMU outhit Occidental .171 to .060 as their defense was stifling, racking up 64 total digs. All-GSAC libero
Sierra Hale had 20 digs and
Isabella Amet had 10 digs as well as 16 kills to lead the Lady Mustangs.
After holding a slight 15-13 advantage in the middle of the first set, TMU pulled away thanks to four kills by Amet. TMU won the first set by seven and followed a similar pattern to take the second set, as Amet and
Kinsley Kollmann continued to rack up the kills. Kollmann had 15 total kills to go along with 12 digs.
"I am glad that we were challenged by a good team and we were able to overcome that challenge," Head Coach
McKenna Hafner said.
Occidental did not go down without a fight, as the Tigers held leads of 6-2 and 13-9 early on in the third set. The Lady Mustangs clawed their way back to tie the game at 18-18 and 20-20, but back-to-back attack errors by TMU gave Occidental some much-needed life.
TMU slammed the door in the fourth set, jumping out to leads of 4-0 and 7-4 and never looking back. The Lady Mustangs scored five straight points to stop a Tiger rally and take a commanding 18-13 lead. TMU won the last set 25-17 off two service aces from
Kate Wagner who had 35 assists on the night.
"I thought we stepped up and gained more control after the third set," Coach Hafner said. "We did a really good job adjusting with the changes we made to our starting lineup."
TMU will resume conference play on Sep 17 with a trip to Riverside, Calif. to take on La Sierra University.
