Mustangs make 'hustle plays' in sweep over Clarke

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Before the Morningside men's volleyball team headed for Arizona for spring break later this weekend, it defeated Clarke in a Heart of America Conference sweep.

The Mustangs (8-5, 4-4) won by set scores of 26-24, 27-25, and 25-21. While it was a sweep, they needed to play together to clinch their fourth win in league play and eighth overall.

"We made a lot of hustle plays," said head coach Noah Marasco-Ayau. "There was cohesion. We were celebrating for each other. We played super, super hard and I'm proud of them for that."

Morningside led by as many as four points in the opening set, but Clarke tied it as late as 24-24. Natan Alves hit the go-ahead kill, then Tharen Cox and Liam Lutz teamed up to block a Clarke swing for the 26th point. Morningside hit .200 in the first set, the highest single-set percentage on Saturday.

Set 2 was just as close, as Moringside's largest lead there was three. An Alves service ace gave the Mustangs the lead at 26-25, and then the Mustangs used a long rally that included some athleticism to earn the second set.

"I tell the boys all the time that no one should be able to outwork us," Marasco-Ayau said. "Even if it's hitting the ground or getting balls up, eventually teams are going to make mental mistakes because of us getting a ball up."

Then, in the third set, Morningside went on a 5-0 run late. With the set tied at 16-16, Morningside earned the serve back with a Clarke service error, and it got two more points from hitting errors from the Pride. Donte Jennings earned a kill, thanks to an assist from Jacob DePauw.

Cox — who had two solo blocks — closed out the match with a kill at the net, and DePauw had the assist.

Alves led the Mustangs with 11 kills, while Benkrid had eight. Jennings had six.

DePauw totaled 23 assists, while Gabe Schreck had 12. Owen Anderson also had an assist.

Eight different Mustangs recorded a dig, led by seven from Benkrid. Anderson had six.

Much like the baseball and softball teams this week, the Mustangs will be busy during spring break. They've got five matches lined up between now and March 8, including Tuesday's meeting against ninth-ranked Benedictine Mesa.

"I want to see us continue to be a team," Marasco-Ayau said. "For some of these guys, this is the first time traveling as a team, so I think building that team chemistry so we can make a last-minute push. We go to Arizona then go back to Kansas City, but where we sit at this point of the season, being able to hang out with each other will only build our chemistry."