Statesmen stun Mustangs in five

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - For the second time in 11 days, the Mount Mercy women's volleyball team squared off against William Penn in a Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup. In their first meeting, the Mustangs prevailed in five on the road. Tonight, the Statesmen returned the favor and defeated Mount Mercy 3-2 inside Hennessey Rec. Center. 

The Mustangs used an early 5-0 run for a 9-4 lead and later extended it to nine at the 19-10 mark after a kill from Maggie Peters. William Penn (12-12, 8-5 Heart) slowly made it a game, forcing three set-points before an error gave the win to Mount Mercy 25-22. In set two, the Mustangs took a 4-4 tie and made it 14-9 getting kills from Mackenzie Murphy, Hailey Hested, Jenna Brown, and Peters during that stretch. Despite Hested going out late in the set due to injury, the Mustangs had their best offensive performance of the match.Brown hammered home the final kill for the 25-15 commanding set two win. 

Neither team lead by more than two at the half-way point of the third set. William Penn broke through and took a 19-14 lead, forcing a Mount Mercy timeout. The Mustangs could not get closer than four the remainder of the set as the Statesmen had taken control of the momentum and the set, defeating Mount Mercy 25-19. The fourth set practically mirrored the previous as it was all tied up at 15 apiece. From there, William Penn recorded the next four points for the 19-15 advantage. Mount Mercy (15-7, 8-6 Heart) got within one, 20-19, after a big Kendall McNaull solo block. The Statesmen responded with three straight kills to level the match at two sets apiece after another 25-19 win. 

William Penn jumped out to a 7-1 lead, but Mount Mercy dug deep to make it a game getting within one at 13-12 and 14-13 after Statesmen errors. A point later, William Penn completed the comeback and defeated Mount Mercy 15-13 in the decisive fifth set. Murphy paced all players with 15 kills and 29 digs- a new career-high. Rylie Mussman added 26 digs of her own. Peters finished with 11 kills and Katie Kopriva added 10 as well. Izzie McKinley tallied 27 assists and Hested added 18 before her exit. 

Mount Mercy has two more home matches later this week to get back in the win column. On Friday, Oct. 14 the Mustangs host Peru State (Neb.) (6-16, 3-9 Heart) at 7:00 pm and on Saturday, Oct. 15 Graceland (7-16, 2-10 Heart) comes to town for a 2:00 pm start.