Statesmen spoil Mustangs' streak

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Coming into tonight's Heart of America Athletic Conference match, the Mount Mercy women's volleyball team were winners of three in a row and seemed well on their way to their fourth straight after going up two sets to none over William Penn. The Statesmen had other ideas taking the next two and forced a deciding fifth set. In a back-and-forth final set, Mount Mercy fell 20-18 to drop the match 3-2 (25-23, 25-21, 16-25, 21-25, and 18-20) inside Hennessey Rec Center. 

Mount Mercy trailed 20-14 in the opening set, but stormed back with six unanswered points, four off the arm of Mackenzie Murphy. Mount Mercy took the lead for the first time at the 24-23 mark with Hailey Hested sealing the deal on a service ace. The Mustangs jumped out to an astounding 9-0 lead in the second set, but the Statesmen would not be deterred. William Penn (13-12, 7-5 Heart) got within one, 13-12 before Mount Mercy was able to pull away and hang on to win set two. 

William Penn won the third set after never trailing and carried that momentum into the fourth. The Mustangs and Statesmen were knotted up at seven apiece, but a 10-3 run gave the lead to William Penn 17-10. It was too big of a deficit for Mount Mercy to climb out of.

In the fifth set alone, there were seven lead changes and 15 ties before a winner was decided. A kill from Kendall McNaull followed by a Statesmen error set the Mustangs up for a match point at 14-12, but William Penn would go on to score the next three points and force extra play. The Mustangs fought off four match points before falling in heartbreak fashion. 

Murphy finished with 19 kills and 19 digs while Katie Kopriva added 18 kills and 17 digs of her own. Hallie Bedier had a breakthrough night; moving from the back row to the front row after the first set, she led the team with a .259 attack percentage on 10 kills to go along with 19 digs. Madi Havermann added seven kills and five blocks. Hested dished out 43 assists while Rylie Mussman led all players with 28 digs. 

Mount Mercy (14-6, 7-3 Heart) is back in action this weekend for two more conference contests. They welcome Baker (Kan.) (8-12, 3-7 Heart) on Friday at 7:00 pm and Mid-America Nazarene (Kan.) (10-9, 6-4 Heart) at 2:00 pm on Saturday at Hennessey Rec Center.