LOS ANGELES, Calif.— The beginning of the road for a talented and highly touted Occidental College volleyball team didn't start well.

The No. 23 Tigers lost their opener against The Master's College at Rush Gymnasium in three games 25-17, 25-13, 25-22.

Oxy tied the Mustangs twice in Game 3, 11-11 and 22-22, but lost the key points and eventually the game and match.

It's a difficult way to start the season one that Heather Collins didn't envision in her first game as the Tigers (0-1) head coach.

"We need to be aggressive, but we came out tentative," Collins said. "As long as things like that don't happen and we stay together during critical moments in the game, we'll be fine."

It was the 11-11 point that Collins said was the difference in the game.

"The turning point in the game was when we lost the point tied up at 11," Collins said. "If we were focused and responded better after that play, we would have put ourselves in a much better spot to win the game."

Oxy junior Logan Boyer-Hayse's nine kills were tied with the The Master's Victoria Callihan for the game-high, but the Mustangs (5-1) attack was much more balanced. Samantha Dougherty and Jenna Kapuscinski each had eight kills and Tami Brown had six for The Master's. Sophomore Stephanie Gann had the second highest Tigers total with six.

Part of the struggle in the Tigers first outing was they ran into a solid Mustang team that was already well into their season.

"They were a strong team and a great attacking team," Collins said. "And they passed really well so they could run what they wanted to run."

Occidental is back in action Friday at the Cal Lu tournament in Thousand Oaks.