[Men's Volleyball] Mustangs Win Five-Set Thriller in Home Opener

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA – After the thrill of upsetting the No.1 team in the country last week, the Mustangs were ready to showcase their talent on the home court. The Mustangs opened the 2019 season at home with a five-set thriller over the Wildcats of Culver-Stockton College. The Mustangs defeated the Wildcats 3-2 (25-17, 24-26, 23-25, 25-17, 15-11). With this win, the Mustangs move to 9-4 overall and a perfect 2-0 in the Heart of America Conference.

In the first set, the two teams battled for the lead before Strahil Svilenski (JR/Sofia, Bulgaria) rattled off six-straight serves giving the Mustangs the 11-6 advantage. The Mustangs left the pedal down cruising to a 25-17 win after hitting .450 in the first set and holding the Wildcats to .136. In a similar fashion, the Mustangs jumped out to an early lead. After a Julian Armendano (FR/La Plata, Argentina) kill, the Mustangs led 14-8 before the Wildcats did some damage of their own. The Wildcats would snag the second set away from the Mustangs after coming back from an early deficit. Feeding off the second set, the Wildcats dominated the third with seven more kills and a .321 hitting percentage compared to the Mustangs' .250 in the set. The Mustangs trailed for much of the third set before jumping ahead on some crucial Wildcat attack errors. Two service aces by Matt Belling (JR/Waukee, Iowa) pushed the Mustangs ahead 20-18 before the Wildcats went on a 7-3 run to close out the set.

In danger of dropping the home opener, the Mustangs rallied back in the fourth to dominate much like they had in the first set. The Mustangs tallied four more kills than the Wildcats holding them to a .074 hitting percentage, while hitting .400 themselves. Nikola Stoimenov (JR/Pazardzhik, Bulgaria) opened the set with back-to-back-to-back kills dished out by Andrew Colantone (SO/Plainfield, Ill.) and the Mustangs would never look back. With the momentum rolling into the fifth, the Mustangs outlasted the Wildcats 15-11. The Mustangs sealed the deal in the fifth set collecting 11 to 3 kills and a .292 hitting percentage restricting the Wildcats to .059.

he Mustangs totaled 56 kills hitting .317, 50 assists, 37 digs, and 11 blocks in the match. The Mustangs collected eight service aces. Individual leaders on the night were Stoimenov with 22 kills hitting .405 followed by Armendano with 13 and a .444 hitting percentage. Colantone dished out 49 assists. Armendano also recorded 10 digs completing his double-double on the night. Ben Steffen (SO/Madison, Wis.) was a force at the net with three solo blocks and one block assist, while Svilenski added four block assists.

Up next, the Mustangs will turn around quickly to host No.10 Clarke University in another Heart of America Conference matchup tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 P.M. in Hennessey Rec Center.