Top-Ranked The Master's Sweeps Mount Mercy in NAIA Championship Opener

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Mount Mercy men's volleyball opened its NAIA National Championship run with a 3-0 loss to top-ranked The Master's on Tuesday night at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse, falling by set scores of 18-25, 28-30, and 18-25.

The Master's jumped to an early 1-0 match lead after taking the opening set 25-18 behind a match-high .400 hitting percentage and 17 kills. Defensively, they held Mount Mercy to a .216 clip with 11 kills.

Set two featured a tightly contested battle, with both teams trading points late before The Master's edged out a 30-28 win to take a 2-0 match lead. Mount Mercy hit .189 in the set with 15 kills, while limiting The Master's to a .190 hitting percentage and 14 kills.

The Master's completed the sweep in the third set with another 25-18 victory, hitting .226 while holding Mount Mercy to .000.

Guglielmo Illotti led Mount Mercy with 16 kills, hitting .250 and adding six digs. Richard Struska followed with seven kills (.138), and Raphael Massara added six kills with a .300 hitting percentage. Setter Gustavo Kehl Bauer dished out 28 assists and recorded six digs, while libero Douglas Fofano led the defense with 13 digs.

Braden Van Groningen paced The Master's with 20 kills on a .514 hitting percentage, along with eight digs and four block assists. Isaac Seltzer contributed seven kills (.040), and Matthew Hamm ran the offense with 34 assists and 11 digs.

Mount Mercy returns to action Wednesday night against No. 8 Park in the second round of pool play. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.