Mustangs come up short in Sioux City sequel
SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Morningside picked up its GPAC slate today, welcoming no. 8 Northwestern College to Allee Gym. The Mustangs gave the top ten-ranked Red Raiders, picked to finish fifth in the league, a fight, despite falling in straight sets, 25-20, 25-23, and 25-10.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
|
|
20 | 23 | 10 | 0 |
Team Stats
#8 Northwestern
Morningside
| Game Statistics | #8 Northwestern | Morningside |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .198 | .049 |
| Blocks | 12.0 | 3.0 |
| Digs | 64 | 61 |
| Aces | 4 | 1 |
SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Morningside picked up its GPAC slate today, welcoming no. 8 Northwestern College to Allee Gym. The Mustangs gave the top ten-ranked Red Raiders, picked to finish fifth in the league, a fight, despite falling in straight sets, 25-20, 25-23, and 25-10.
Despite taking an early lead in set one, Morningside spent much of the night playing catch up, tying set one at 15. The two titans would slug out the rest of the set, with the visiting Raiders never surrendering the lead after swiping it back 17-16.
The Mustangs came back with gusto in set two, going blow for blow with Northwestern for the duration. Morningside tied things up at 22 all, courtesy of an Emerson Smith kill, before Northwestern took the lead for good.
Set three was all Northwestern, with the Raiders leading chrome first-serve to the final whistle. The Mustangs hit the wall at 17-10, unable to advance their side of the scoreboard beyond 10.
"Every time we play we are raising the bar for ourselves. No, we didn't come out with a W tonight, but we did a lot of good things that we should be very proud of," remarked Jessica Squier, head coach of the Mustangs.
Morningside's offense was led statistically by Emerson Smith, striking for eight kills in the match. Meredith Hoffman and Sydney Marlow each followed with seven. Ryley Rolls hit at a .200 rate, finding the floor with five kills in 20 attempts, with only one error.
Sabrina Creason and Bridget Smith split the setting duties, totaling 17 and seven assists, respectively.
The defense for the Mustangs manifested itself in the digs column, with Payton Shoquist taking top honors, leading all players with 21 digs. Marlow followed for Morningside with 14, and Emerson Smith closed out the Mustangs in the double digits, with 12.
Morningside is back in action on Friday, competing in the GoSarpy.com Labor Day Classic, hosted by Bellevue University. The Mustangs will first take the court at 9 a.m., squaring off with Peru State.
