Mustangs bounce back with two key wins

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Mount Mercy women's volleyball team picked up two more Heart of America Athletic Conference wins over the weekend, winning three of four during their home-stand. The Mustangs defeated Baker (Kan.) 3-0 on Friday night and MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 3-1 on Saturday afternoon inside Hennessey Rec Center. 

The Mustangs came out firing against the Wildcats, hitting .361 on 16 kills in the first set to win 25-18. Mount Mercy trailed Baker (8-13, 3-8 Heart) for the majority of the second set, including being down 24-21. Out of a timeout, Falynn Buehler single handedly got the Mustangs back in the game. She recorded two service aces and had a diving save on a dig to level the set. Mount Mercy again faced set point at 25-24 but a block from Cassidy Boche and Jenna Brown followed by two Baker errors gave the Mustangs the win, 27-25. Mount Mercy jumped out to an 8-2 advantage in the third and went on to win by ten, 25-15 for the sweep. 

Mackenzie Murphy led all players with 13 kills on a .353 hitting percentage to go along with 11 digs and three aces. Madi Havermann added eight kills and Kendall McNaull and Brown each finished with six. 

Mount Mercy carried over their momentum from Friday into Saturday and led by as many as eight in the first set against the Pioneers before winning 25-19. Set two was all MidAmerica Nazarene as they took a 5-5 tie and went on a 9-1 run to break open the game. The Pioneers cruised to the 25-12 win to even the match at one set apiece. The Mustangs responded and returned the favor in the third set. Mount Mercy led 11-10 and quickly made it 18-10 after a seven point swing to go on to win 25-19 in the third. Mount Mercy faced a 13-6 deficit in the fourth set and it looked like MidAmerica Nazarene (11-10, 7-5 Heart) was well on their way to a fifth set. The Mustangs didn't go away, getting within two and forcing a Pioneer timeout at 16-14. Mount Mercy took the lead for the first time since the opening point, at the 21-20 mark. From there, the Pioneers had a service error and Hallie Bedier hammered home two of the final three Mustang points for the come from behind 25-23 set and match win.

The Mustangs didn't have their best offensive performance but a balanced attack was the key ingredient in defeating MidAmerica Nazarene without Katie Kopriva. Hailey Hested shared the ball amongst eight Mustangs to finish with 34 assists as well as 10 digs, an ace, and a block. Havermann and Brown led the way with nine kills, while McNaull and Murphy had six apiece. Alayna Westenberg added five and Bedier three (all of which came in the fourth set). Rylie Mussman corralled 28 digs, her third consecutive 20+ dig performance and eighth of the season. 

Mount Mercy (16-6, 9-3 Heart) has five straight away matches before returning home for Senior Night on Tuesday, Oct. 31. The Mustangs start their road trip at Grand View (7-16, 7-4 Heart) on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 7:00 pm.