CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Over the weekend, Mount Mercy Men's Volleyball hosted the Mustang Triangular. Participating teams were the first-year program of Viterbo University and No. 6 Aquinas College. After sweeping the V-Hawks to extend an eight-match win streak, the Mustangs' momentum was halted by the nationally-ranked Saints. With the weekend split of non-conference faceoffs, the Mustangs move to 11-5 overall.In the first match of the day, the Mustangs swept the V-Hawks 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-21). The Mustangs held the V-Hawks to a .041 hitting percentage while hitting .295 and tallying 11 more kills. The Mustangs totaled 34 kills, 31 assists, 52 digs, and one block in the match. Dalton Hynek (JR/Cedar Rapids, Iowa) led the offense with 11 kills and a .455 hitting percentage followed by Ben Steffen (SO/Madison, Wis.) with 10 kills and an incredible .769 hitting percentage. Jamie Araiza dished out 19 assists. Leading the defense was Matt Belling (JR/Waukee, Iowa) with 10 digs accompanied by Hynek, Justin Atienza (JR/St. Louis, Mo.), and Bobby Muller (JR/Plainfield, Ill.) all with seven each.The Mustangs rolled into their second match of the day with hopes of handing the No. 6 Saints of Aquinas College their first loss of the season. Prior to the NAIA Men's Volleyball Match of the Week, the un-ranked Mustangs had taken down three nationally-ranked opponents. The Mustangs' efforts fell short as the Saints remained undefeated handing the Mustangs a 1-3 (28-30, 25-20, 20-25, 20-25) loss. In the first set, the two teams jousted back and forth for the lead. Consecutive kills by Nikola Stoimenov (JR/Pazardzhik, Bulgaria) and Julian Armendano (FR/La Plata, Argentina) set the Mustangs up for set point. However, the two teams would face four more set points before the Saints snagged the first set. The Mustangs bounced back in the second commanding control for the entirety of the set. Strahil Svilenski (JR/Sofia, Bulgaria) ended the second set with service ace. Into the third set, the Mustangs' momentum from the second did not transfer as the Saints jumped out to an early lead maintaining the advantage throughout to win the fourth and complete the defeat in the fifth set.Despite totaling two more kills than the Saints, the Mustangs committed eight more attack errors and a .194 hitting percentage compared to the Saints' .236. The Mustangs tallied 46 assists, 51 digs, 11 blocks, and four service aces. Individual leaders in the match were Stoimenov with 17 kills followed by Svilenski with career-high 12 and a .625 hitting percentage. Andrew Colantone (SO/Plainfield, Ill.) handed out 43 assists. Mitchell Wannahwilai (FR/Rockford, Ill.) had a career-high 17 digs. At the net, Svilenski also added three solo blocks and four block assists.Up next, the Mustangs will spend two Heart of America Conference matches on the road before returning home to face the currently-ranked No. 1 Grand View University on Tuesday, March 5 at 7:00 P.M. in Hennessey Rec Center.
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