Mustangs earn 20th win, look ahead to postseason

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Senior, Maggie Peters was honored before last night's Heart of America Athletic Conference contest against Clarke inside Hennessey Rec. Center. She finished her last home match on a high note leading the Mount Mercy women's volleyball team to a sweep over the Pride for their 20th win of the season. 

Peters had back-to-back kills making it 11-2 in the first set. The Mustangs controlled the remainder of the set and consecutive kills from Mackenzie Murphy gave Mount Mercy the 25-16 win.

The second set featured seven ties at just the 10-10 mark. From there Mount Mercy had a 15-12 advantage after a Clarke miscue. The Pride responded with an 8-1 run forcing a Mustang timeout. After that, Mount Mercy clawed their way back into the game, getting kills from Murphy, Jenna Brown, and Lexi Klinkkammer. A huge solo block from Peters leveled the set at 24 all. Two straight kills from Alayna Westenberg and none other than Peters completed the come from behind set two, 27-25 win. 

Clarke (4-23, 1-18 Heart) took an early lead in the third set, but Mount Mercy was able to pull away late thanks to three service aces from Brown, making it 24-19. Westenberg's fifth kill sealed the set, 25-21 for the three-set sweep. 

Peters hit .375 on 12 kills with five blocks. Murphy paced all players with 13 kills and Rylie Mussman tallied 17 digs. For the second time this season, Brown recorded five aces.

Mount Mercy finished the regular season at 20-8, 12-7 earning the eighth seed in the Heart Conference Tournament. The Mustangs travel to Olathe, Kan. on Saturday, Nov. 5 for a Heart Quarterfinal match-up against top seed and 10th-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (25-1, 18-1 Heart).

The Heart Semifinals will be on Tuesday, Nov. 8 and the Heart Championship will be held on Saturday, Nov. 12 at the highest-seed's venue. Times are to be announced.