CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — For the second consecutive year, The Master’s will contend for a national championship after defeating the St. Thomas (FL) Bobcats in three sets Friday at the NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship tournament.
The Mustangs (26-0) beat the No. 5-seed Bobcats 25-15, 25-16, 29-27 to get themselves back to the championship match. Last year TMU lost to Georgetown (KY) in the final
“We have one more game to complete what our goal has been all season,” said TMU Head Coach Jared Goldberg. “We’ve had to battle for a long time to get back to this point and I’m looking forward to a battle (Saturday) against a really good St. Xavier team.”
All-American Middle Blocker Will Avera said that “all glory goes to God for how far we’ve gone this year.”
“We don’t think about our records,” Avera said. “We just try to play excellent volleyball and we try to stay bought in and committed. And God has given us the strength to get here again. Our team is really united right now, and that’s a big part of why we are back here.”
TMU jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first game behind three kills from Trace Oswald. The lead bloomed up to 10 after a Max McCullough ace made it 17-7 and forced a Bobcats timeout. Avera and Oswald then combined on a block after the timeout and McCullough served up his second ace of the rotation. From there the Mustangs cruised to the 25-15 set win.
The Master’s hit .667 and committed no hitting errors in that first set while holding St. Thomas to .179.
The second set started out like the first, with the Mustangs grabbing a 9-2 lead, but this time it was led by the block. Avera, Oswald and McCullough collected three blocks in the opening sequence, combined with another three kills from Oswald, to once again take control. TMU got the lead up to 12 points 23-11, but STU rattled off a 5-1 run before a hitting error by the Bobcats gave the Mustangs a 2-0 lead in sets.
The third set was a better start for St. Thomas as the Bobcats moved to a 6-3 lead. But again the Mustangs’ block proved pivotal when Avera, Seltzer and Van Groningen combined to deny a Bobcats attack to make it 8-8. STU then rode a wave of emotion to go up by two 11-9, only to lose that wave as TMU scored the next three to go up 12-11. It continued to go back and forth, with The Master’s getting to match point three times only to have the Bobcats tie it. Finally, a Van Groningen kill was followed by a Van Groningen block to send TMU to the championship.
“We really controlled the first and second set and had to battle back in the third,” Coach Goldberg said. “But overall we’re just trying to stay steady. This is a long tournament and we’re trying not to play through the highs and lows but just play steady and overall we did that tonight.”
The Master’s finished the 3-set match hitting .385 while limiting the Bobcats to .128. They took the advantage in kills (39-37), but it was the block that proved the most lethal weapon. The Mustangs finished the sweep with 12 blocks.
Van Groningen led the team with 12 kills followed by Oswald’s 11. Avera led the defense with seven blocks while Oswald added six.
The Master’s will now face No. 2-seed St. Xavier (IL) in the championship match Saturday. The Mustangs have been No. 1 and the Cougars have been No. 2 all season long in the NAIA.
“St. X is also undefeated,” Avera said. “Two undefeated teams, one and two in the nation all year, both teams have beaten [NCAA] Division I teams, so it’s going to be a great battle and a really fun volleyball game to watch.”
First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. PT and will be live on the NAIA Network.