Mustangs Sink Pirates in Top Ten Battle

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Mount Mercy men's volleyball team took down the fifth-ranked Park Pirates in a thrilling five-set 3-2 victory Friday night at Hennessey Recreation Center. The Mustangs were able to hold off a late Pirate advance, winning the match with set scores of 25-12, 25-20, 21-25, 26-28, and 17-15. 

With the first serve coming at them, the Mustangs held control of the momentum in the game in the first set, as Mount Mercy's Richard Struska gave the Mustangs a seven-point lead to open the first set. The Mustangs came out on top offensively, recording 12 kills and hitting a game-high .310 while limiting the Pirates to seven kills and a .000 hitting percentage for a 25-12 set one victory. 

Set two had a similar outcome, falling in favor of the Mustangs, preventing a late Pirate attack to tie the set at 15s. The Mustangs pulled away with a 25-20 victory to extend their lead to 2-0 over the Pirates. 

In set three, the tides were turned as the Pirates came out with a 25-21 victory, preventing the Mustangs from recording more than 11 kills and a hitting percentage of .083. The match was sent into a deciding fifth set after the Pirates took set four, 28-26, as the Mustangs were held to a hitting percentage of .025. 

With the match on the line, the Mustangs battled point for point with the Pirates, holding an 8-7 lead as the teams switched sides. At a score of 15-14 and a perfectly timed timeout by Mount Mercy, the Mustangs soon collected the next three points, with Gabor Toth hitting the match-winning kill for a 17-15 fifth-set victory. 

Toth was the leading attacker for the Mustangs, collecting 18 kills on a .053 hitting percentage and nine digs. Guglielmo Illotti contributed 14 kills to the Mustangs' victory, hitting .159 and four blocks. Gustavo Bauer fueled the Mustang offense with a season-high 53 assists and 11 digs, with Struska leading the defense with 26 digs in the match. 

Veljko Stojic led the Pirates with 13 kills and a .258 hitting percentage, while Nicolas Tenius added 10 kills and hit .167. Umberto Caleca controlled the Pirate offense with 33 assists, with Jovan Nikolic adding seven.

Mount Mercy (8-2, 3-1 Heart) will return to the court on Saturday, February 22, to host Ottawa, with the match set to begin at 2:00 p.m.