Vikings Fall to No. 5 The Master’s in Four Neck and Neck Sets

Men’s Volleyball | Tue, Mar. 14, 2023 at 10:15 PM

Santa Clarita, CA – Grand View men’s volleyball traveled to California for a two-day hitter against ranked foes. The Vikings matched up with the Masters for the first time since the Molten Invitational, the Vikings took the Mustangs to four sets but fell with scores of, 25-13, 25-23, 28-26, and 25-23. 

Set 1: Grand View University 13 l The Master’s University 25

The first set would begin a tad shaky for the Vikings as they would run into a few errors early forcing the timeout from head coach Nogueira as they trailed, 6-2. Following the timeout, the Vikings would begin to find gaps in the Master’s defense and they would begin to find a rhythm, gathering a few kills from Nickolas Lima (FR/Curitiba, Brazil ), Daniel Wong (SR/Campbell, CA ), and Daniel Galili (SO/Shomrat, Israel) making the score 9-5. Zeo Meyer (JR/Wheaton, IL ) would cut things to 12-9 following his ace. Nicholas Vattier would also join in on the rally off a quick set from Meyer he would get a kill that would bring the Viking within 4. The Vikings would begin to struggle a bit after a few points by the Mustangs, forcing them into another timeout as they trailed 20-12. The Vikings wouldn’t be able to shake some out-of-character errors resulting in them falling in the first set, 25-13. 

Set 2: Grand View University 25 l The Master’s University 23

Set two for the Vikings would start much like the first one, as they opened up the 2nd set trailing 3-0. Bayron Valdez (JR/Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) would get things going offensively for the Vikings as he would get a kill for the team’s first point of the set. The Mustangs would begin to feel the Viking’s power as they would tie things up 6 all with a big kill from Galili. The teams would begin to battle back and forth, and the Vikings would take their first lead of the set 13-12 from a kill by Lima. An Ace by Galili and another kill by Lima would give the Vikings another 15-14 lead and would force the Masters into a timeout. Valdez would get another kill and he would make the score 20-18 in favor of the Vikings. Service errors would begin to affect the Mustangs, as they would give the Vikings another easy point putting them back up two. Meyer would get another sneaky kill bringing them to set point as he dumped one over the top. A block by Nicolas Vattier (SO/Santiago, Chile) would end the set and tie things up 1-1 with a score of 25-23. 

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