by Jonathan Covert–The Morningside Mustangs picked up a 3-0 sweep over the Dakota State Trojans on Friday night. The Mustangs were coming off a tough loss against conference foe College of Saint Mary.
Dakota State jumped to a 13-9 lead in the opening set. Morningside Coach Donnelly took a timeout and the momentum would completely swing in the Mustangs’ favor. The Mustangs fought back to a 14-14 tie midway in the first set. The Mustangs played aggressively after tying, going on an 11-3 run to close out the first set 25-17.
The Trojans jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the second set. Once again, the Mustangs fought back, knotting the score at 11-11. The match continued to be that tight the rest of the way. The Mustangs grabbed the final three points to win the second set 25-23.
The Trojans would repeat the pattern in the third set. The Mustangs again would rally behind an 8-5 run to tie the set at 9-9. The teams traded points to tie at 12-12 before the Mustangs pulled a 13-7 run to sweep 25-19. The Mustangs moved to 8-2 this season with the Trojans falling to 3-3.
The important factor that led to the Morningside win was Dakota State’s 26 errors to Morningside’s 16. Morningside’s attacking was superior as they out-killed the Trojans 37-29, with a more accurate hitting 18.9 percent to the Trojans 2.4 percent.
Stat leaders for the Mustangs were Emma Gerber with 9 kills, Callie Alberico with 19 assists, Kayla Harris with 23 digs and Gerber with 3.5 blocks
The Mustangs are back in action on Wednesday as they take on nationally ranked Midland. The Warriors come into the match ranked number eight in the nation. The match starts at 7:30 pm in Allee Gymnasium.
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