The Master’s University women’s volleyball team needed a win in the final match of pool play to keep its season alive.

It fell short in four sets.

The Concordia (NE) Bulldogs eliminated the Lady Mustangs from the NAIA Women’s Volleyball Championship (22-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-27) Friday night, Dec. 5 in Sioux City, Iowa.

The Master’s had more attacks (159-153) and more aces (10-2). But it also had more attack errors (30-25) and had the lower hitting percentage (.113-.163). The Bulldogs were the better with kills (50-48) and blocks (17-11).

TMU (24-5) opened the first set well, scoring the first three points. The teams traded points, but when the score reached 7-4 the Bulldogs lit a fire. The team scored five unanswered points to go up 9-7. Moments later The Master’s went on a 4-0 run to take a 15-13 lead, but CUNE closed out the frame on a 12-7 advantage to claim the set.

Partway through that first set, GSAC Setter of the Year Kate Wagner was injured and would not return. Cassidy Clark went the remainder of the way as The Master’s setter.

The second set started even better for the Lady Mustangs as the team opened up a 7-1 lead. But Concordia, the No. 3 seed overall among the 24 teams in the championship tournament, climbed back on a 5-2 run to get to within three at 9-6.

It was as if, in that moment, the team was not going to take it anymore.

TMU went on an 8-2 run punctuated by kills and blocks to go up 17-8. It protected that nine-point lead to the end of the set.

The Bulldogs came out recharged in the third, opening a 6-2 lead. TMU came back, scoring five of the next six points to tie it at 7-7. The teams traded points again, and with CUNE up 10-9, the Lady Mustangs caught a run again, this time 8-1 to go up 17-11.

The run was highlighted by three consecutive service aces from Krista Brady.

But again the Bulldogs fought back, including winning a pair of video challenges to take a 22-21 lead. From there Concordia rode the momentum, a 14-6 closeout, to take the set by two and go up 2-1.

The fourth set was a back-and-forth battle dabbled with runs. TMU had a 15-11 lead only to see CUNE score four in a row to tie it at 15-15. The teams continued to go back-and-forth, each making athletic plays to stay alive and each getting an ace that felt, at the moment, like momentum was with them. Each team reached set point, but a kill by Concordia’s Maddie Paulson sealed the set and the match for the Bulldogs.

“I’m incredibly proud of the way that we fought and how resilient we were against a really good team,” said TMU Head Coach McKenna Hafner. “We went toe-to-toe with them and I thought that our ball control was really good and we took the right swings at the right times. It’s just one of those games that unfortunately didn’t go our way. I said to the girls after the game in the locker room that I don’t like losing, but if we have to lose that’s how I want to do it. They should be really proud of themselves and the way that they finished the season. They battled against a team that could very easily win a national championship, and if anything had gone slightly different we could have won that match. So they should be really proud of that.”

Isabella Amet led The Master’s with 15 kills followed by both Macy Gebhards and McKenna Brady with 12 each. Clark dished a career-high 37 assists, with both Kinsley Kollman and Krista Brady getting three service aces. Krista Brady also led the team with five blocks.

Wagner was credited with four assists in the match before leaving with her injury, giving her a total of 1,002 and making her just the fourth setter in TMU program history to have over 1,000 assists in a single season.

It is the second consecutive season The Master’s women’s volleyball team won the GSAC regular season championship and the conference tournament title, as well as the second year in a row the team has won its NAIA Championship Opening Round match. The team’s 24 wins this season is the most since 2018.

“This was my first season (as head coach) and I’ll never forget it for that reason,” Hafner said. “But I will also never forget how this group was able to learn resilience and maturity. Having underclassmen as the bulk of our starting lineup is a tough task and I thought they handled it really well. I’m very thankful for the seniors, for Grace (Colburn) and Aaralyn (Nicholls) and how they helped in being great leaders and being great examples of amazing teammates. It was truly a remarkable season and there is a ton to be proud of.”

For more information visit GoMustangs.com.