Mustangs rally for thrilling win in season opener

RIVERSIDE Calif. – After falling behind by two sets, the Mustangs rallied to pull out a five set win, 11-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-13 in the season opener against Hope International at the La Sierra Tournament in Riverside, California.

Morningside gave up the first five points of both sets one and two, and were unable to overcome the early deficits. 

The Mustangs changed tunes in the third set, getting on the board first, and staying within two points of the Royals. Morningside tied the third set at 10 off an attack error, and didn't trail for the remainder of the set. A Sydney Marlow kill put the Mustangs at set point 24-19, and a Gillian DePauw kill sealed the win in set three.

The fourth set started similar to the first two, as Hope International took a 4-0 lead, and led 8-1 early on. Six straight, five of which came off of Royal errors, made the set 8-7 Royals. Morningside and Hope International traded points until a 3-0 run from the Mustangs made the set 18-16 Morningside. The 3-0 run, highlighted by kills from Payten Lode and Victoria Bouska, wasn't enough to put the Royals away, as they rallied to tie the set at 19, and a 3-0 run of their own made it 23-22 Hope International. 

Being two points away from losing their first match of the season, Morningside kicked up up a notch, scoring three straight points with kills from DePauw and Claire Wilson helping the Mustangs force a fifth and final set.

The trend of the match, a hot start for Hope International, continued in the fifth set. In the first to 15 set, Hope International took a 4-0 lead and led 10-5 around the halfway point of the set. Morningside wasn't done fighting though.

Trailing 12-8 in the fifth set, the Mustangs scored seven of the final eight points to win the match. Lode had two kills in the rally, and Katherine Miller had a kill. An attack error from the Royals sealed the win.

Marlow led the team with 12 kills, followed by Lode with 10. DePauw was the steady hand in the offense, tallying 30 assists and four timely kills. Defensively, Payton Shoquist and Marlow tallied 22 digs each. Lode added 18 digs herself. Three aces from Barbosa Kozouskova aided the Mustangs in the first match of the season.