Aces carry Mustangs to sweep

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Mount Mercy women's volleyball team began their four-match home stint with 14 service aces and a dominating sweep over Culver-Stockton (Mo.) 25-13, 25-13, and 25-19 inside Hennessey Rec Center in a Heart of American Athletic Conference contest. 

The rotation of Mackenzie Murphy, Katie Kopriva, and Cassidy Boche behind the service line, produced six aces being down 4-3 and turning it into a 15-7 advantage. Murphy tallied two, Kopriva one, and Boche three. Mount Mercy cruised the rest of the way, getting two kills and a block by Jenna Brown and Hailey Hested to close out the first set. 

Murphy opened the second set with a kill and followed that up with three straight aces for a quick 4-0 lead. Mount Mercy increased their lead to 13 after a kill from Madi Havermann at the 22-9 mark, before Hallie Bedier collected the final point.

The Mustangs faced an early deficit in the third, down by three, before they were able to level the set at nine all. Hested got in on the service ace train, with three consecutive aces to build Mount Mercy's lead to 15-10 and force a Culver-Stockton (3-16, 0-9 Heart) timeout. A few Mustang miscues let the Wildcats get within two on a multiple occasions, including at 20-18. Two kills from Murphy and three Culver-Stockton errors gave the set and match to Mount Mercy. 

Murphy finished with 11 kills, 10 digs and six aces to pace all players. Kopriva hit .444 on five kills and two aces. Boche and Hested each added three aces, with Hested dishing out 32 assists as well. Rylie Mussman, Baylee Russ, and Brooklyn Miller were strong on the defensive end, led by Mussman with 18 digs. 

Mount Mercy (14-5, 7-2 Heart) has a week hiatus before they are back at home against William Penn (12-11, 6-4 Heart) on Tuesday, Oct. 10 for a Heart matchup at 7:00 pm.