[Women's Volleyball] Mustangs Split Heart of America Home Weekend
Cedar Rapids, Iowa - After two weekends on the road, the Mustangs were ready to get back on track with a weekend of home Heart of America Conference play. The Mustangs went on to split a weekend of home matches. On Friday, Oct. 5, the Mustangs hosted the Pioneers of MidAmerica Nazarene University. They would complete the sweep winning 3-0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-17). Saturday's matchup would bring a bit more competition to the plate hosting the No. 21 Central Methodist University Eagles. The Mustangs would fall 0-3 (16-25, 17-25, 14-25). After this weekend, the Mustangs are 15-10 overall and 4-8 in the Heart of America.
On Friday night, the Mustangs would battle the Pioneers to the very end. Coming to play from the start, the Mustangs would jump out to a quick seven point lead after two consecutive kills by Alyssa Weldon (JR/Oxford, Iowa). The Eagles would chip away at the lead until forcing a tie at 22-22 forcing a Mount Mercy timeout. The Mustangs would drop two more points after the timeout. With set point on the line, the Eagles cracked under pressure committing two attack errors. The Mustangs would rally back to take set one 26-24 thanks to two consecutive successful by Becca Thomson (SR/Rock Island, Ill.). Holding the Eagles to just a .037 hitting percentage. The Mustangs would hit .077 with 12 kills only to improve as the night went on.
In the second set, the score remained within four the whole set. The back-and-forth and ties totaled 11. The Mustangs trailed 14-18 before a timeout was taken by Mount Mercy. They would come out of the timeout to force a 22-22 tie and a Pioneer timeout. The set would end with two kills by Maddie Bell (SO/Ely, Iowa) and Weldon. Although the Mustangs only had 12 kills compared to the Pioneers 17, the Mustangs were able to commit fewer errors to hit .189 versus .167.
Having gained the confidence by the third set, the Mustangs ran away with the third and would never look back. The Mustangs would lead by as much as 11, winning by a final score of 25-17. The Mustangs were able to capitalize on nine Pioneer errors limiting them to just a .020 hitting percentage. The Mustangs would have their best offensive performance of the night with 15 kills to just four errors while hitting an impressive .250.
As the Mount Mercy Mustangs defeat the MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers 3-0, they would total 39 kills, 34 assists, 73 digs, and six blocks. Weldon led the team with 10 kills, Bell and Thomson had nine and eight respectively. Bell would hit an impressive .421 throughout the match. Kayla Daggett (SO/Madison, Wis.) dished out 32 assists. Lauren Stopko (SR/Tiffin, Iowa) led the defense with 25 digs. Bell would also contribute two solo blocks and two block assists.
After coming off a win the night before, the Mustangs were riding the momentum into hosting the No. 21 Central Methodist Eagles. However, the Eagles would take care of the Mustangs in three sets. All three sets would play out in similar fashion with the Mustangs at the Eagles' tails, but would fall behind and never be able to recover late into the sets. The Mustangs were held to just a .009 hitting percentage totaling 25 kills, 24 assists, 40 digs, and seven blocks. In the sweep by the Eagles, Thomson led the team with nine kills. Daggett contributed 24 assists. Stopko totaled 14 digs. Olivia Makinen (FR/Beloit, Wis.) and Bell led with three block assists.
Up next, the Mustangs will travel to William Penn on Tuesday, Oct. 9 before spending another weekend on the road for Heart of America Conference play. The Mustangs return home on Tuesday, Oct. 23 to host a non-conference contest against Briar Cliff University at 6:00 P.M. in Hennessey Rec Center.