Morningside wins two more, improves to 7-1 start

BELLEVUE, Neb. – After losing the first set on Saturday, the Morningside University women's volleyball team won six straight sets to defeat John Brown and Grand View at the GoSarpy.com Volleyball Classic.

In the first match, the Mustangs (7-1) defeated the Golden Eagles 23-25, 25-21, 25-20 and 25-12.

Morningside hit .221 during the overall match, and above .200 in the final two sets to win.

The Mustangs' biggest lead was seven in the first set, leading 19-12. Sydney Marlow – who led the Mustangs with 20 kills – closed out that set by having three.

The Mustangs closed out the third set with an 8-0 run. Marlow had four kills, but Adelyn Harris started out the run with a kill of her own. Jacey Miller had seven assists in that eight-point, set-clinching run.

In the middle of the fourth match, Morningside built a 9-1 run. Emerson Smith ended its morning match with back-to-back kills.

Wilson turned in 14 kills, while Smith had eight.

Aleksandra Dalach and Kyla Dyrstad each had 25 and 22 assists, while Dalach had three aces.

Aureana Bernales tallied 20 digs to lead Morningside.

Nienke van Drunen had 4.0 total blocks, and Marlow had two total blocks.

Then, in the afternoon, the Mustangs swept the University of Saint Mary 25-18, 25-15 and 26-24.

The Spires started out the first set ahead 3-0, but the Mustangs stormed back to score seven straight points. The run was bookended with a Marlow kill, then a van Drunen kill.

Emma Haren's kill and Dalach's ace helped clinch the first set for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs closed out the second set on a 7-2 flurry, ended with a Smith kill. Morningside hit .259 during the set, and had just three errors. The Mustangs also forced the Spires to have 11 errors and hit minus-.053.

Again, in the third set, the Spires jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Morningside didn't let it get further than that. Instead, it went on a 6-2 run,and caught up to Saint Mary twice. First, the Mustangs tied it at 15-15, then tied it again at 23-23.

Haren earned a kill to take the lead at 24-23, but Saint Mary tied it again. Morningside clinched the match with a Harris kill, then with a team block from Harris and Wilson.

Wilson led Morningside with 10 kills, followed by nine by Marlow. Haren, Smith, and van Drunen each had six kills.

Dyrstad and Dalach were the top two in assists with 16 and 12. Bernales led the Mustangs in digs with 16.

Morningside's week ahead includes a Wednesday match at Dakota State, then will compete on Friday and Saturday at United Sports Academy in North Sioux City.