Mussman Breaks Record, Mustangs Fall to Bears, Fighting Saints

JOLIET, Ill – Mount Mercy's women's volleyball team took a pair of hard-fought losses to close out their weekend, taking Rocky Mountain (MT) back-and-forth to five sets with a score of 3-2 and St. Francis (IL) in a four-set match, 3-1. 

MATCH 1

Opening today's doubleheader, the Mustangs took the first set 25- 21 for an early 1-0 lead. Sam Schrage would lead the Mustangs in the set with 5 kills and a 0.571 hitting percentage. The Bears responded to the Mustang's early lead and went on to take the next two sets 25-18 and 25-19, leading the Mustangs 2-1 in the match. 

Despite being down, the Mustangs would take an early five-point lead to start the fourth set and maintained it to win 25-20 to force a decisive fifth set. The Bears would go on to win the deciding set 15-11, claiming the match 3-2. 

Jenna Brown and Mary Kate Bendlage would lead the Mustangs offensively with 14 and 12 kills each. Hailey Hested would end the game with 44 assists and 13 digs.  

MATCH 2

The Mustangs would battle for the lead against the Fighting Saints of St. Francis (IL) by taking the first set 27-25. St. Francis showed they would not go down quietly as they would take sets two and three with box scores of 25-22 and 25-17. Despite being down 2-1, the Mustangs would fight point-for-point in the fourth set, but St. Francis edged their way to win the set and match 25-23. 

Offensively, the Mustangs had three players with at least ten kills in the match, with Jenna Brown leading the way with 18 kills, Mary Kate Bendlage and Ellie Gerdes were right behind Brown with 11 and 10 kills. Hailey Hested recorded 48 assists, ranking her in the top 10 for all-time assists in a four-set match. 

Despite the loss, senior Rylie Mussman had a remarkable match as she recorded 48 digs, breaking the school's record set in 2009 by 10 digs, for the most digs in a four-set match. 

For St. Francis, they would have two attackers with double-digit kills, with Desiree Anderson leading with 18 kills and Riley Hungate with 13 kills. St. Francis would end the match with a 0.214 hitting percentage to seal their win. 

The Mustangs will compete in Omaha, Neb. in the College of Saint Mary tournament next weekend.