Mustangs split road trip, get first league win

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The Mount Mercy men's volleyball team stopped a two-match skid this weekend, defeating Graceland in three sets on Saturday in Lamoni after falling to second-ranked Park in three on Friday night in Parkville.

Friday's loss to the Pirates (10-1, 2-0 Heart) may have come in three sets, but they were all tight, especially games one and three. The 15th-ranked Mustangs dropped set one, 28-26, then set two, 25-19, before pushing Park to a 30-28 decision in the third.

Akeel Oxley led Mount Mercy in kills and digs, finishing with 17 and five. Colin Castelnau added 10 kills, Bo Brainerd six. Rafael Vieyra tallied 35 assists and Brian Lynch three solo blocks.

The Mustangs (11-2, 1-2 Heart) hit .532 on Saturday and defeated the Yellowjackets (2-7, 0-3 Heart), 25-17, 25-15, 25-17. Kill leaders were Johann Schopsdau with nine, Castelnau with eight, and Lynch with seven. Vieyra dealt 33 more assists, Lynch and Kevin Fiedler had four digs, and Schopsdau finished with three blocks.

Mount Mercy is back on the road against a ranked team on Tuesday when they head to Des Moines to take on ninth-ranked Grand View at 7:00 pm.