CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The Master’s University men’s volleyball team won their opening match of the 2024 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championship with a 3-set win over the No. 9-seed Mount Mercy (IA) Mustangs.

The Mustangs, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, won 25-18, 25-16, 25-14.

“The guys played well tonight,” said TMU head coach Jared Goldberg. “We found a pretty good balance of taking care of business and getting some guys in. Trying to manage legs in tournaments like this can be tough, so we’ll continue that throughout the week.”

One of the guys who saw significant playing time was Cole Oliver, who led the team with 11 kills and three aces.

“Cole is a good example. He hadn’t played most of the year, though he stepped in during the GSAC tournament and did very well,” Goldberg said. “He has always had a pretty dynamic arm and he had a good night with it here.”

TMU hit .354 for the match and added six blocks. But it was their serve that once again proved to be the most effective, collecting eight aces in the three sets.

“We’ve been a team that, when we are serving well we are very tough to beat,” said Outside Hitter Braden Van Groningen, who finished with 10 kills. “Aces are great, but we can still serve tough without the aces showing up in the stat sheet. We get them out of system, get fully-formed blocks up and make it tougher for them to score.”

Opening up the match on a 4-0 run, The Master’s took control of the match from the very beginning. They led by as much as eight in the first set before settling with the seven-point win.

Mount Mercy took an early 2-0 lead in the second set before TMU took control with four straight points. The set stayed tight with both teams going on 2-0 and 3-0 runs. But after a kill by the Iowa Mustangs cut The Master’s lead to 19-16, the Mustangs from California closed out the set on a 6-0 run to win the set.

With the third set tied 8-8, TMU launched into a 12-2 run with multiple kills from Van Groningen, Will Avera and Jake Olson to wrestle control of the set. The Mustangs went on to win four of the last five points to win by 11.

Patrick Paragas dished 33 assists with both Avera and Isaac Seltzer leading the way with four blocks.

The Master’s will next play Thursday against No. 8-seed University of Jamestown in their final pool play game. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. PT.