Mustangs make quick work in first conference win

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – The Mustangs made quick work as they collected their first conference win of the 2022 campaign, defeating Kansas Wesleyan in straight sets, 25-7, 25-14, and 25-14.

Morningside jumped to an impressive lead in set one, scoring five of the first six points as Dylan Hamil, Jacob DePauw, and Jacob Baynes all recorded kills out of the gate.  A pair of Morningside errors left the door open for the Coyotes as Kansas Wesleyan worked back into the match, scoring two more points before Morningside went on another four point run to widen the gap between the two teams, leading 12-5.  

A pair of points was all that KWU would get for the remainder of the set, as Morningside scored point 13 on a Tharen Cox kill, then went on a 13 point run to wrap up the set, culminating in a block by Cox and Jacob Baynes.

"I'm really proud of how the guys competed through the entirety of the match, staying focused and disciplined," reflected coach Addison Mertler.  "I really wanted to challenge them to focus on themselves and the system that we play. Us being able to focus on a clean well-rounded match was our focus going into tonight playing our game and playing smart."

Set two saw Kansas Wesleyan again score first, catching Morningside off guard and opening up to a 7-3 advantage.  An Isaiah Baynes kill and a service ace for Jacob DePauw championed a five-point run to give Morningside an 8-7 advantage.  The visitors would take a point before Lucas Begliomini pushed Morningside into another five-point run to lead 13-8.

Erik Krenz capped another run of five points that saw the Mustangs exploit Coyote errors to make the score 20-11, and a quick series of four points bookended by kills from Jacob Baynes and Cox wrapped up set two.

Morningside drew first blood in set three, taking the first two points before trading leads with Kansas Wesleyan.  A seven-point run for the hosts gave Morningside the lead in Allee for good, with Jacob Baynes hammering the last point to the ground for Morningside.

Jacob Baynes took top honors among the Mustangs' attacking ranks, recording 20 kills and hitting .621 in the three-set match, resetting his record for kills in a sweep.  Cox and Isaiah Baynes each recorded six kills, while Hamil scored five.  DePauw had 39 assists in the match, and led the team with three aces.

"Jacob Baynes is such a versatile player.  He's been able to fill in in a couple different positions for us so far this year, but his ability to find different options of scoring allows him to be deadly on the pin," commented Mertler.

Owen Anderson continued to be a leader in Morningside's digging corps, recording 10 digs in the libero jersey.  Begliomini followed with six, and DePauw with five.

Cox was the biggest aggressor at the net, recording four block assists.  Krenz had a solo block and a block assist, and DePauw had two block assists.

Morningside sees a break for the rest of the weekend, following cancellations due to weather, and is back in action on February 24 and 25, when it welcomes Ottawa University and Saint Ambrose to Allee Gym.