STRONG NATIONAL SHOWING FOR THE MASTER'S.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

The Golden State Athletic Conference is loaded with women's volleyball teams ranked in the NAIA national rankings. The Master's is not one of those teams, but the Mustangs did find out what it is like to be considered among the elite as they almost won a title at a national tournament last weekend.

The Master's reached the final of the National Christian College Athletic Association national tournament and made the match as close as possible before falling to top-seeded Palm Beach Atlantic 30-26, 28-30, 31-33, 30-27, 16-14. Saturday's loss to the host Sailfish was the fifth-seeded Mustangs' lone defeat - and only match to go five games - during the 10-team event.

The Master's, which entered the tournament with back-to-back losses, proved early that it could compete with the best. The Mustangs upset Palm Beach Atlantic in three games during pool play, but the Sailfish did not lose another game until their four-game semifinal against Cedarville.

Mustangs junior middle blocker Natalia Durso and senior outside hitter Lacey Brueggemen were named to the all-tournament team.

The next challenge for The Master's (18-13, 8-9) is a strong finish in the GSAC, which concludes with three matches this week, including one at 7 p.m. tonight at home against No. 10 Cal Baptist (26-4, 14-4).

--Led by youth: Although The Master's was not among the contenders at Saturday's NAIA Region II cross country championships in Fresno, the Mustangs can find optimism in knowing that their top finishers should be around for years to come as the program's youngest members turned in the best results.

Freshman Melyndee Butterfield, who has spent most of the season second to junior Amy Rice, was The Master's leading women's finisher. She placed 26th with a personal best time of 19 minutes, 23 seconds.

Sophomore Tim Smith's 42nd-place finish (27:15) in the men's race was the best among the Mustangs, who set a program record for best average team time (28:44).

The teams travel to Ohio this weekend for the NCCAA National Championships, the first national meet ever for the Mustangs.

--Honors: Seniors Luke Barnes and Ryan Burton as well as sophomore Jared Thornton were named to the All-GSAC men's soccer team. Sophomore defender Teschia Fishburn was the Mustangs' lone representative on the All-GSAC women's soccer team.

Burton finished as the conference leader in goals-against average (0.77) and save percentage (.817).

Exhibitions: The men's basketball team, which opened its season Monday against Cal State Northridge, has an exhibition game Friday at USC. The women's team plays its first game of the season Saturday in an exhibition at UC Riverside.

Heather Gripp, [phone]

heather.gripp(at)dailynews.com