CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa [BOX SCORE | BRACKET | SCHEDULE] - The No. 1 The Master's (Calif.) Mustangs won their first national title over the No. 2 Saint Xavier (Ill.) Cougars in the 2025 NAIA Men's Volleyball National Championship. TMU secured its first Red Banner in four sets.

Both teams went undefeated through the season and won most matches in three or four sets, while only advancing to a fifth set a handful of times. The Master’s was forced to a fifth only three times by Stanford, Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) and Hope International (Calif.). Saint Xavier was forced to a fifth set only twice against Indiana Tech and Benedictine Mesa.

After completing the regular season, the Mustangs and the Cougars both advanced to the national championship via an automatic berth by winning their respective conference tournaments.

The one-two duo for the entire season did not meet until championship night in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Neither team has won a title but TMU competed in the championship match in 2024, while SXU is making its first appearance in the championship match.

The lead traded hands throughout the first set. Saint Xaier held the first set point at 24-21, but The Master’s rattled off three straight points, sparked by Braden Van Groningen, to a tie score of 24. The Cougars would get one more chance at set point thanks to a kill from Caydann Cox but the Mustangs followed with a 4-1 run to put the first win on the board, 28-26.

Eighteen scoring ties preceded the set two decision. At 21 all, TMU capitalized on the Cougars errors to close out the set 25-23.

SXU opened the third set with an 8-3 run where the Cougars earned seven of their eight points. Four of those points came from Matt Pennala with three kills and an ace. Saint Xavier maintained its initial lead to a 25-18 set three win to extend the match to a fourth set.

Set four opened with a four-point run by the Mustangs. Saint Xavier remained close and tied the score at 14, 15 and 16 before TMU went on the only five-point scoring run of the match for a 21-16 lead. From that point, The Master’s went on a 4-3 scoring run sparked by a kill off the hand of Van Groningen and closed with a kill from Will Avera for the match, 25-19.

Scoring runs were kept to a minimum during the match. There were only two four-point runs, one by each team, and one five-point run by The Master’s in the final set.

Pennala led all scorers with 20 kills. His teammates, Vejas Cuplinskas and Cox, followed with 12 and 11 kills.

Isaac Seltzer led the way for The Master’s with 11 kills. Avera led the defensive effort at the net with eight assisted blocks. Trace Oswald and Max McCullough followed Avera with six total blocks each (Oswald one solo, five assisted; McCullough six assisted).

All-Tournament Team

Kaelen Ingram, St. Thomas (Fla.)

Leonardo Leao, Missouri Valley

Matthew Hamm, The Master’s (Calif.)

Braden Van Groningen, The Master’s (Calif.)

Andres Velez, Saint Xavier (Ill.)

Tournament MVP – Braden Van Groningen, The Master's (Calif.)

Sportsman of the Year – Will Avera, The Master’s (Calif.)