In another five-set thriller, The Master’s University women’s volleyball team defeated No. 20 Midland University (NE) in the final match of the CSM Labor Day Classic in Omaha, Neb. Saturday, Aug. 30. The team is 7-1 on the season so far.

The Lady Mustangs had the advantage in kills (62-48), blocks (14-6) and hitting percentage (.133-.090) in the  21-25, 25-15, 16-25, 25-8, 21-19 win.

Despite jumping out to a 3-0 lead, the first set went to the Warriors. The match was tied eight times until Midland went on a 7-2 run in the middle of the set to create a five-point lead. From there it was just a matter of maintaining that separation before The Master’s fell by four points.

The Mustangs righted the ship in the second set, and once again it was the middle of the frame that turned the tide. After it was tied 11-11, the Lady Mustangs went on a 14-4 run to close out the set and win by 10. Six different TMU players contributed kills during that run.

In the third set it was the Warriors turn to throttle the Lady Mustangs as they quickly jumped out to an 11-4 lead, which they then increased to as much as an 11-point lead before gaining the two sets to one advantage with a nine-point win. TMU committed 11 attack errors for a season-low -.139 hitting percentage for the set.

The Master’s flipped the script on the Warriors in the fourth, controlling the set from the start. In this frame the team only committed two attack errors but forced a match-high eight Midland errors. The Lady Mustangs went on a 12-2 run to close out the set, leading by as much as 17 points at three different times.

So, for the third time in the first eight matches, TMU found itself in a five-set match. The team had to go the distance in 29 matches last season.

The Warriors asserted themselves from the start of the deciding set, snagging a 4-1 lead. But The Master’s responded getting four of the next five points to tie it at 5-5. After Midland scored three of the next four to go up 7-5, the Lady Mustangs rattled off six unanswered points to grab a commanding lead 11-7. The momentum was squarely with TMU as the team rode the wave to a 14-9 lead, but the Warriors refused to roll over, scoring the next five points to tie the set at 14-14. The teams would trade points, tying the set another five times, before kills from Macy Gebhards and Bella Amet sealed the win.

Kinsley Kollman had a career-high 17 kills to lead the Lady Mustangs. Macy Gebhards had 13 and both Amet and Krista Brady, who led the team with four blocks, contributed 10 kills each. Kate Wagner finished with 47 assists.

The Master’s home opener next Saturday, Sept. 6 will be the conference opener as well as the Lady Mustangs welcome the Arizona Christian Firestorm to The MacArthur Center for a 1 p.m. start.

For more information visit GoMustangs.com.