The OUAZ Spirit women's volleyball team got off to a struggling start to the Golden State Athletic Conference season.  That was put to bed on Friday night, Sept. 15, when they dominated The Master's University to a straight set sweep (25-20, 25-20, 25-17) in the GSAC home opener.
 
Lauren Wamsley (13 kills) and Rylie Henige (12 kills) did most of the heavy lifting for the Spirit (8-5, 1-2 GSAC) offense.  Cristal Carrizoza handed out 25 assists, while Logan Kuehn had 11 assists herself.  Gloria Moye led the block party with three.  Kenzie Kuxhuas (18) and Chenay Gladstone (13) handled the digs on the defensive side of the ball.
 
Only one member of The Master's University (9-7, 0-3 GSAC) reached double figures in kills.  The Master's came into the match receiving votes in the NAIA poll last week.
 
It was nip and tuck in the early portions of the first set.  Neither team had more than a two-point lead at 7-6 in favor of OUAZ.  The Spirit then went on a 7-2 run to force a TMU timeout.  The Spirit won the first point after the timeout, but then Master's came back with a pair of points of their own.  OUAZ would come back and take a 17-10 lead.  All good things do come to an end, and TMU went on a run that saw them climb to within two at 17-15.  Another 5-2 run, this time for OUAZ would force TMU to take their second timeout of the set at 22-17.  Both teams would trade the final six total points and the Spirit would win set one 25-20.
 
Set two saw the Orange and Red race out to a 10-4 lead before TMU was forced into a timeout.  The message must've been received as they went on a 6-0 run after the Spirit took the first point after the timeout.  The Spirit had small runs the rest of the way and pulled away for a 25-20 win to be up two sets to none.
 
The teams traded the first six total points in the third set for a 3-all tie.  A 9-1 run that included a TMU timeout saw the Spirit race out to a 12-4 lead.  Small runs led to a 24-14 Spirit lead to put them on the threshold of a sweep.  TMU wasn't going to just roll over and play dead however.  They went on a 3-0 run to close to 24-17.  A kill be Jessica Pearce sealed the deal and let all the home fans go home happy.
 
OUAZ is back on the court at 1:00 p.m. for a match against Life Pacific.  LPU took down ACU in five sets on Friday to improve to 12-2, 3-0 in the GSAC.  Tickets can be purchased on the Hometown Ticket app or by clicking here..