Weekend home stand theme resumes with conference contests

It's the second of three consecutive home weekends for Morningside College Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19 and 20. Head coach Theison Anderson's Mustangs welcome fellow Great Plains Athletic Conference members Ottawa University of Kansas, University of Jamestown, and Dordt University to Allee Gymnasium and the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center.

Mside clashes with the Braves of Ottawa Friday at 7 p.m. and hosts the inaugural GPAC Classic Saturday. Saturday's schedule is as follows – Court One – 10 a.m. – Dordt vs. Morningside/1 p.m. – Morningside vs. Jamestown; Court Two – 10 a.m. – Ottawa vs. Jamestown/1 p.m. – Dordt vs. Ottawa. Live statistics and video for both days can be viewed through links at www.msidemustangs.com, the Internet home of Morningside College athletics.

• Morningside looks to reverse early season fortunes. Anderson's crew dropped three contests Feb. 12 and 13, falling to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' No. 7-ranked Jimmies and Dordt in three sets and battling Viterbo University to a four-set finish. Despite the tough-luck team results, four Maroon student-athletes are ranked among the league's statistical top five.
• Senior setter Kyle Cox (SR/Mancos, Colo.) (Mancos, Colo.) sits fourth in assists per set (5.2), junior middle hitter Tyler Godown (JR/Las Vegas, Nev.) (Plano, Tex.) is fifth-best in blocks per set (.8), and the sophomore tandem of defensive specialist Jonah Mika (SO/Las Vegas, Nev.) (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Kahakai Kahoiwai (SO/Wahiana, HI) (Wahiana, Hawaii) is tied for fourth in digs (2.1 ps). The Mustangs' best team ranking is third in digs (8.5 ps). Those digits also play well on the national number landscape, as Godown and Cox are each in the first 40 for their blocks and assists per set averages, and the team is part of the top 30 in blocks (No. 24 – 1.6 ps) and digs (No. 28).
• Anderson's squad concludes its weekend homestand run Friday, Feb 26. They take on Lincoln College and Judson University of Illinois of the Chicagoland College Athletic Conference. The action begins at 2 p.m. and runs through the early evening.