By Mason Nesbitt
For The Signal
The Master’s University will compete in men’s volleyball beginning in the 2019-2020 school year, the third new sport unveiled by the Newhall-based institution in the last month.
Master’s has also added women’s beach volleyball and women’s golf.
TMU men’s volleyball will join the Golden State Athletic Conference for next season and immediately become eligible for the conference tournament. The Mustangs can also qualify for the NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship next year, an eight-team tournament that took place in Des Moines, Iowa, earlier this month.
Allan Vince, the reigning GSAC Women’s Volleyball Coach of the Year, will add men’s volleyball to his coaching duties at Master’s. Vince was an all-conference selection at UCLA and a member of the U.S. men’s national team for three years.
Last season, Vince’s fifth as head coach of TMU’s women’s team, the Mustangs won their first-ever GSAC regular season and tournament titles.
“Coach Vince has already built a championship program here at TMU,” said Master’s Athletic Director Kelvin Starr. “I’m excited to see him mentor these young men as he builds the men’s program.”
Vince said his focus will be on cultivating leaders who understand that their calling, in whatever they do, is to build Christ’s kingdom. He also wants to “work toward competitive greatness” and install a system that is focused on defense first.
“We want to be a team that reads the game and has great vision so we can understand the play before it comes to our side of the court,” Vince said. “A focus on our defense as a priority puts us in the best opportunities to score.”
After graduating from UCLA, Vince joined the U.S. men’s national team – training under Olympic gold-medal coach Hugh McCutcheon – and played professionally overseas in Latvia, Argentina and Puerto Rico. He briefly was a member of the Professional Beach Volleyball Association.
As far as coaching, Vince has worked as an assistant at the high school level and served as an assistant men’s volleyball coach at California Baptist University in Riverside, California. He was CBU’s interim head coach in 2012.
Vince believes his resume will help open the door for him to impact his players.
“A lot of times young men are looking for direction, trying to figure out where they should study, what they should pursue, who they are in Christ,” Vince said. “And I feel like sometimes they are looking for someone who has been there and done it in a field that they have passion in. So I think that will attract a lot of young guys to come to this program because they will get a Christ-centered education and they know in the gym my desire is to bring young men up using the sport as an example of how to build character and to learn what the Lord’s will is for their life.”
For anyone interested in being recruited, Coach Vince can be contacted at [email protected]
Baseball to host crucial games Wednesday, Thursday
The Master’s University baseball team enters the final week of the regular season with two crucial home double-headers on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Mustangs will host Ottawa University of Arizona for four games, beginning at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day.
Master’s (29-14-1, 17-11 GSAC) is currently tied for the final Golden State Athletic Conference tournament berth. The Mustangs can secure a bid to the tournament by winning out.
