Mustang volleyball tops CUI on the road

The Master's University men's volleyball team rebounded from a tough first set to beat the Concordia University Irvine in four sets Wednesday night in Irvine, Calif.

Isaac Seltzer led the squad with 16 kills and Trace Oswald had 12 kills and six digs, as TMU hit an efficient .336 on 119 total attacks.

Concordia, the No. 20 team in the country in the AVCA Coaches' Poll, got off to a strong start and was putting the pressure on TMU early. The Golden Eagles never trailed in the opening frame and won 25-14 to open the scoring. The Mustangs struggled offensively, having as many kills (8) as errors. 

But the Mustangs flipped a switch after the first set, as they cut down on their errors and got into a rhythm on the offensive side. TMU jumped out to a 6-0 lead and now had the momentum. CUI tied the score at 13 but the Mustangs opened the lead back up and a service error and Ezra Vlad's kill got TMU on the board.

"The team did a really great job of battling back after that tough opening to the first set," TMU Head Coach Jared Goldberg said. "We had a number of different guys step up and produce."

The third set remained close from the start with the score tied at multiple points in the early stages. However, TMU stared to pull away around the 12-10 mark and another kill from Vlad gave TMU their largest lead of the set at eight points. Oswald's kill from Matthew Hamm ended the set and pushed TMU ahead 2-1. 

The fourth and final set was back and forth, with TMU gaining a 9-3 advantage early. CUI cut it down to a one-point lead at 12-11, but TMU responded. Seltzer, who had six kills in the set, got TMU to game point with the score at 24-22. An service error by CUI gave TMU the win as they improved to 3-0 on the young season. 

Matthew Hamm had 49 assists and Preston Schmidt had 11 digs.

The Master's will get a rematch with Concordia on Saturday in The MacArthur Center.