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February 28, 2026

Morningside takes two five-set wins

DUBUQUE, Iowa — Morningside needed all five sets twice Saturday, surviving back-and-forth battles against Clarke and St. Ambrose left Dubuque with two hard-earned victories.

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DUBUQUE, Iowa — Morningside needed all five sets twice Saturday, surviving back-and-forth battles against Clarke and St. Ambrose left Dubuque with two hard-earned victories.

First, the Mustangs (17-4) defeated Clarke by set scores of 17-25, 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, and 15-10. 

They bounced back in Set 2, and hit .333 with just four errors. In the final set, they hit .286 and committed three miscues. The fifth set ended in a 5-2 run, and that included a Mohamed Benkrid kill. 

Natan Alves and Mauro Verstraeten both had 21 kills. Benkrid chipped in with 12. 

Malu Wilcox led the Mustangs with 49 assists. Tucker Juhnke topped the Mustangs with 24 digs. 

Morningside closed out a five-set win over St. Ambrose, 25-23, 25-15, 30-32, 22-25, 15-9, behind a dominant offensive match from Alves. 

Alves poured in 28 kills on .435 hitting and added 10 digs and five total blocks. Ferdinando Vinti followed with 18 kills, while Mohamed Benkrid added nine. 

Wilcox directed the offense with 58 assists as the Mustangs hit .254 overall and an efficient .538 in the decisive fifth set.

In Set 5, Morningside turned a 5-5 tie into control, and Benkrid sealed the match with a kill at 15-9 to secure the road victory.

Morningside also leaned on its defense, totaling 51 digs, led by Tucker Juhnke's 14 and Alves' 10. At the net, the Mustangs recorded 22 block assists and two solo stops from Palikapu Wilson and Alves.