DES MOINES, IOWA – Coming off an undefeated weekend, the Mustangs were looking to keep the ball rolling. Standing in their way were the No. 1 Vikings of Grand View University. With a tough matchup on the road to start Heart of America Conference play, the Mustangs dropped the first two sets. However, in the latter half of the third, the Mustangs would snag the momentum from the home team and ride it out to defeat the Vikings 3-2 (22-25, 30-32, 25-20, 25-22, 20-18). Pulling off the incredible upset, the Mustangs move to 8-4 on the season and a perfect 1-0 start in conference.In the first set, the Vikings would use the home-court advantage to jump out to an early lead and maintain control for a majority of the set. The Mustangs made a late push, but dropped the first set 22-25 with 11 kills hitting .214 compared to the Vikings' 15 kills and a .233 hitting percentage. To open up the second set, the Mustangs went on a 3-0 run thanks to a Viking attack error and back-to-back kills by Julian Armendano (FR/La Plata, Argentina) and Nikola Stoimenov (JR/Pazardzhik, Bulgaria). The Vikings would combat with a couple service aces to push ahead of the Mustangs. With the set knotted at 20-20, the two teams would joust back and forth for the lead. The second set extended to extra points with the Mustangs making one too many attack errors in the final stretch letting the second set slip 30-32. The Mustangs were held to 12 kills and just a .088 hitting percentage.Facing a sweep and being sent packing, the Mustangs would make a miraculous comeback with the spark igniting in the third set. Starting the set down by four, the Mustangs battled back off two consecutive kills by Armendano and a block put up by Stoimenov and Ben Steffen (SO/Madison, Wis.) to tie the game at 5-5. The Vikings would take off on a 3-0 run keeping their distance from the Mustangs before Stoimenov produced consecutive kills three separate times to push the Mustangs ahead and hang on to win the third set 25-20. The Mustangs succeeded in holding the Vikings to just nine kills on a .077 hitting percentage, while totaling 12 kills hitting .241 in the third. Having stolen the momentum from the home team, the Mustangs went into set four determined to force a fifth. The Mustangs sprinted out of the gates on a 5-2 run after an opening kill by Strahil Svilenski (JR/Sofia, Bulgaria). Falling behind just once in the fourth, the Mustangs finished out the set out on an 8-4 run to claim it 25-22. Both teams fired at full strength, the Mustangs would tally just one more kill than the Vikings on a .409 hitting percentage compared to .318.With their eyes set on an upset of the top-ranked team in the country, the Mustangs entered the fifth set with nothing to lose. Stoimenov collected the opening kill followed by a service ace by Evan Gaskill (SO/Cedar Rapids, Iowa). The two teams remained neck and neck with the Vikings reaching the 10-point mark first. Falling behind 10-12, the Mustangs took a timeout to regroup coming out of the time out forcing a Viking ball handing error followed by a crucial kill completed by Steffen to knot it at 12-12. The Mustangs would have four match points with the All-American attackers on the other end refusing to surrender. Having to defend a match point themselves, the Mustangs were able to fend off the Vikings thanks to a perfectly executed pass by Mitchell Wannahwilai (FR/Rockford, Ill.) off a laser serve to set up an Armendano kill assisted by Andrew Colantone (SO/Plainfield, Ill.). The dagger came as Stoimenov put up a solo block to force yet again match point for the Mustangs with the result coming out this time in their favor taking the fifth and final set 20-18 with nine kills and a .375 hitting percentage.The Mustangs totaled 56 kills hitting .240, 51 assists, 41 digs, and 16 blocks. The Mustangs collected seven service aces with 16 service errors on 119 attempts as opposed to seven service aces with 25 service errors on 120 attempts for the Vikings. Individual leaders on the night were Stoimenov with 20 kills followed by Armendano with career-high 15 and a .345 hitting percentage. Colantone dished out 48 assists. Wannahwilai recorded 12 digs. A massive blocking night for the Mustangs results in Steffen with three solo blocks and five block assists, Stoimenov with one solo block and five block assists, and Svilenski with one solo block and four block assists.Up next, the Mustangs will open the 2019 season at home on Thursday, Feb. 7 at 7:00 P.M. against the No. 8 Fighting Bees of Saint Ambrose University for a non-conference match in Hennessey Rec Center.
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