Newcomers break through, Mustangs win two

LAMONI, Iowa / PERU, Neb. - Behind stellar play from newcomers, the Mount Mercy women's volleyball team secured two Heart of America Athletic Conference road wins, defeating Graceland 3-0 on Friday night and Peru State (Neb.) 3-1 on Saturday morning.

The first set was back-and-forth until the Yellowjackets built a 21-17 lead over the Mustangs. Mount Mercy didn't back down, instead they went on an 8-0 run to win the set. Izzie McKinley served the duration, getting two service aces and Kendall McNaull drilled home the final point, 25-21. The Mustangs carried over the momentum into the second set, building a ten point advantage at 18-8 and never looked back. This time it was Lexi Klinkkammer who served five points followed by a Maggie Peters kill and a Graceland (5-10, 0-4 Heart) attack error for the 25-10 set two win. Mount Mercy controlled the third set as well. Katie Kopriva recorded five of her match-high 12 kills in this set. Consecutive kills by Peters and Hailey Hested gave the Mustangs a 25-14 win for the sweep of the Yellowjackets. 

With senior captain, Mackenzie Murphy out with injury, the Mustangs experimented with different rotations throughout the match. Kopriva was one of the regulars, leading the way for Mount Mercy with 12 kills on a .391 hitting percentage. Klinkkammer, Peters, Jenna Brown, McNaull, and Hested all finished with four kills apiece. Hested also finished with 27 assists and 10 digs. Peters collected four block assists and two solo blocks which led to the dismal hitting percentage of .019 for Graceland. 

On Saturday morning, Mount Mercy relied on contributions from a number of Mustangs. Mount Mercy jumped out 5-1 in the first set, but saw that lead evaporate quickly as it was 9-9. Neither team could create any separation from that point on. All tied up at 20, the Mustangs capitalized on a Bobcat error and got kills from Kopriva, Peters, Kopriva, and Alayna Westenberg for the 25-20 win. In set two, it was Peru State (5-8, 2-2 Heart) who got out to an early lead, watched it dissolve, and held on for the 25-16 win to level the match 1-1. In the third set, Mount Mercy had a commanding 15-5 lead after back-to-back kills from Klinkkammer and McNaull. The Bobcats would get within five, 18-13, before Kopriva responded with a kill. Mount Mercy won the third set 25-18. Again, the fourth set was all notched up at ten apiece, but Mount Mercy stepped up. They went up 15-10 after their first run, then increased their lead 19-12 after their second run, and closed out the match on six straight points for the 25-12 win. 

Kopriva racked up a career-high 15 kills and filled the stat sheet with 15 digs, three block assists, and an assist. Peters also finished with 15 kills and Westenberg added 10- her first double-digit performance. Klinkkammer added seven kills and seven digs along with two service aces, a solo block and two block assists. Rylie Mussman led all players with 26 digs and Hested totaled 44 assists. 

Mount Mercy (11-3, 4-2 Heart) has a week off to prepare for their toughest competition of the season as 16th ranked Central Methodist (Mo.) (9-4, 3-3 Heart) comes to town on Saturday, Sept. 24th for a Heart contest beginning at 2:00 pm. The Mustangs the host Missouri Valley (10-9, 1-4 Heart) on Sunday, Sept. 25th at noon inside Hennessey Rec. Center.