SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Vanguard fell in three sets to The Master's in the championship match of the Golden State Athletic Conference Men's Volleyball Tournament on Saturday at The MacArthur Center.
Set scores went 25-19, 25-15, 25-13.
The Lions finished as runners-up in the tournament for the second straight season. They look toward the NAIA Championship and an opportunity to defend their Red Banner in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Vanguard hit a season-low .132 as the Mustangs won the battle in kills (37-22), assists (36-22), service aces (11-3) and digs (31-28).
Senior opposite Will Anderson was held to a career-low one kill and -.278 (1-6-18) hitting. It was the only the fourth time this season he did not have double-digit kills in a match.
Sophomore Andrew Sheveland led the Lions offensively with eight kills on .263 hitting. Micah Sybesma and Glen Linden III both hit over .400 and had four kills apiece.
Reza Tahmasebi tallied a team-high eight digs, while Leilua Kruse chipped in seven.
TMU hit .363 (37-8-80) for the match, led by 12 kills from Isaac Seltzer and 10 from Cole Oliver.
What Happened?
Set 1 – The Lions fell behind 6-2 before mounting a 4-1 run to close within one. The Mustangs countered with three straight points to build a 10-6 lead as VU burned its first timeout.
Ultimately, TMU's run became 9-2 as the lead morphed into a 16-8 advantage. The Lions still trailed by eight at 19-11, and a solo block by Patrick Paragas extended the lead to 22-13 as VU called another timeout.
TMU reached set point at 24-14 – but the Lions showed some fight as they scored five straight points. Kills from Linden III, Tahmasebi and Sheveland, combined with a Smith ace and a Seltzer attack error narrowed the gap to 24-19. But Will Avera slammed a kill on the sixth set point to give the Mustangs a 25-19 win.
The Mustangs hit .345 (13-3-29) in the frame while VU swung at a .269 (10-3-26) clip.
Set 2 – The second set started identical to the first as the Mustangs built a 6-2 lead, forcing another VU timeout early on. The Lions were unable to put together any large scoring chunks and still trailed 12-8 when Sheveland terminated a ball.
Leading 13-9, the Mustangs went on a 5-0 run to put the Lions in an unenviable spot. An Avera ace gave TMU a 17-9 lead as VU whistled for its second timeout. Braden Van Groningen made the score 18-9 out of the break with a putaway.
The Lions responded with three straight points, but could not get the deficit any closer than six. TMU hit .414 (13-1-29) with just one error while the Lions struggled at a .042 (6-5-24) clip in the 25-15 loss.
Set 3 – Vanguard failed to lead at any point of the match – and for the third straight set – the Mustangs raced out to a 6-2 lead. Linden III and Anderson stuffed Avera to cut the deficit to 6-3, but a 9-3 TMU blitz put the Lions at a 15-6 deficit. Three straight Van Groningen aces carved up the Lions during the run.
The Lions scored consecutive points just three times the entire set.
The Mustangs scored their last two points on VU service errors to take the 25-13 victory. VU again struggled to put the ball down, hitting .056 (6-5-18). TMU hit a match-low .318 (11-4-22), but the effort was more than enough to stop the Blue and Gold.
TMU improved to 23-2, while VU dropped to 14-3.
Why Is It Important?: The Lions have still built a solid résumé with two of their three losses to No. 1 TMU combined with eight wins against top-15 opponents.
What's Next?: The Lions await their pool placement at the NAIA Championship when the Selection Show reveals the participants on Monday, April 22 at 2:00 p.m. (PT) on the NAIA YouTube Channel.
