By Mason Nesbitt, TMU Sports Information Director

A month-long winning streak earlier this season might prove instructive as The Master’s University women’s volleyball team readies to host Vanguard at TMU on Friday with the Golden State Athletic Conference title on the line.

Master’s, ranked No. 13 in the country, leads Westmont College by one-match with two to play. A win over the No. 18 Lions at 7 p.m. would secure at least a share of TMU’s first-ever crown.

The Mustangs (25-5, 14-2 in GSAC) have lost twice in their last five matches but aren’t far removed from a 12-match winning streak that vaulted them into GSAC contention and the national tournament conversation. The key to the run – the Mustangs’ longest in more than a decade – may be the same as the key to a win Friday.

“I think it had a lot to do with confidence,” said junior middle Jane Cisar, who leads TMU with 275 kills and a .343 hitting percentage. “As the winning streak grew larger and larger, our confidence just kept growing. That really propels teams to fight harder than they would naturally, and instead of collapsing after the other team has a run of a couple points, you just fight even harder.”

Said TMU coach Allan Vince: “That’s the energy we’re going to need to finish.”

In winning more matches than any TMU team since 2012, Master’s has received contributions from nearly its entire roster. Madi Fay has been dynamic at opposite hitter. Regan Tate has provided a threat on the outside.

Kayla Sims has been crucial as a setter and hitter.

McKenna Hafner might be the GSAC’s most talented libero. Rebecca Davis and Mackenzie Delo have helped the cause in serve receive.

The list could go on and on.

But after a 3-0 loss at Menlo College on Saturday, Master’s is ready to play in front of what it hopes is a capacity crowd at The MacArthur Center on Friday. Cisar said playing at home in a game so meaningful provides a level of comfort: TMU is familiar with the court lines, the height of the ceiling and the lighting.

“Obviously having our home fans will be a big boost,” she said. “We’re hoping to get quite a few people out there.”

Cisar said she had herd that Vanguard would be busing students to the match. In all certainty, the Lions (24-6, 11-5) will be sending a team that took Master’s to five sets in Costa Mesa on Oct. 2.

Master’s won the first two sets before Vanguard flipped script in the next two. A Kayla Sims kill was crucial to crushing a late Lions run in set five. TMU won 15-11.

Vanguard is in the midst of the best season in program history, and it features one of the conference’s best liberos in senior Rebecca Lowden. The Lions also boast a powerful outside hitter in senior Shaylen Larson-Piper, who currently leads the GSAC in kills (342).

She recorded 13 kills on 45 attempts against TMU earlier this month.

“She has a high and hard cross swing that we had a difficult time defending last time,” Cisar said. “She definitely poses a challenge. We’ve all been reviewing tape and seeing what setup is best for blocking her.”

Blocking has been arguably the Mustangs’ biggest area of improvement over last season, when they went 11-17 and lost in the first round of the GSAC tournament.

This year, Master’s won its first nine matches and didn’t lose from Sept. 7 to Oct. 9 behind a front line led by Cisar, who leads the GSAC in blocks per set, in the middle and Fay on the outside.

The addition of 6-foot-1 freshman Chloe Emory has also bolstered a GSAC-best block.

Another area of strength has been TMU’s serve. The Mustangs have regularly forced opponents out of system.

“It has allowed us to run our offense very effectively,” Vince said.

But, how do the Mustangs recapture the positive vibes of early October?

“I think it all has to do with how we practice and our mindset going in,” Cisar said. “If anyone of us is thinking, ‘What if we don’t win’ or ‘I’m too nervous to mess up,’ then it can impact the whole dynamic of how we play.”

Master’s will close the regular season against Life Pacific at TMU on Saturday at 7 p.m.

For a full schedule, click here.