Mustangs open Heart play with two wins, Murphy hits another career mark

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - After playing their first 10 matches on the road, the Mount Mercy women's volleyball team had their home and conference opener on Friday night against Peru State (Neb.) followed by Graceland on Saturday afternoon inside Hennessey Rec Center. 

Even on an off night from the offensive side, the Mustangs earned the sweep over the Bobcats (25-18, 25-11, 25-15) with a 14-4 advantage on the blocks and a dig differential of 12. Mount Mercy held Peru State (5-6, 0-1 Heart) to a -.036 attack percentage. Kendall McNaull led the way with four blocks, Katie Kopriva had three, while Madi Havermann, Mackenzie Murphy, and Alayna Westenberg each added two. Rylie Mussman finished with 20 digs for the fourth time this season and second consecutive match. Murphy and Hailey Hested added nine digs, Kopriva eight, and Falynn Buehler four. Murphy was the lone Mustang in double-digit kills with 11, putting her over the 1,000 career kill mark. 

Coming into the match, Murphy was just five kills away. She reached the milestone with back-to-back kills to close out the first set. She is the 15th player in Mount Mercy history to reach 1,000 career kills and only the fifth player with 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. 

The Mustangs continued their straight set performance with another sweep over the Yellowjackets (25-21, 25-15, 25-19). After blowing an four point lead and letting Graceland (4-6, 1-1 Heart) get back in the match at 18-18, Mount Mercy went on a 7-3 run to close out the set. Kopriva accounted for four of those points via kills including set point. The Mustangs settled in for the final two sets to win in three. Kopriva paced all players with 11 kills on a .346 attack percentage to go along with nine digs and two blocks. Murphy added 10 kills and Jenna Brown seven. Brown and Havermann held the net down with three blocks apiece and Hested dished out 32 assists in the route of Graceland. 

Mount Mercy (9-3, 2-0 Heart) has their toughest matchup of the season as they travel to sixth-ranked Park (Mo.) (6-2, 0-0 Heart) on Friday, Sept. 15th for a 7:00 pm start in Parkville, Mo. The Mustangs then head to Atchison, Kan. for an 11:00 am match against Benedictine (Kan.) (8-2, 0-0 Heart).