Wilson reaches 1,000-kill milestone in sweep over Briar Cliff

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Claire Wilson and her Morningside University women's volleyball teammates had a lot to smile about on Wednesday night.

The No. 21 nationally-ranked Mustangs (14-6, 2-3 Great Plains Athletic Conference) swept rival Briar Cliff in straight 25-18, 25-13 and 25-8 sets at Newman Flanagan Center, and then Wilson earned her 1,000th kill during the third set.

"I couldn't have done it without my teammates," Wilson said. "I wasn't thinking about getting the 1,000th in the moment, I was thinking about getting the win. It's a good feeling, yes, and it felt like I was on top of the world."

Wilson has played all four years since arriving at Morningside, collecting double-digit kills each season. Last year, she amassed a career-high 342 and now has 222 after the three-set sweep over Briar Cliff.

Wilson came to Morningside from Omaha Roncalli High School, and when she was a senior at Roncalli, Mustangs coach Jessica Squier saw something different in the 5-foot-10 hitter.

"Claire is one of the most coachable players I've ever coached, and I was really happy to see her hit that milestone," Squier said. "You just see her and it builds your culture. She is such a problem solver. She does a lot of work off the court and she wants her teammates to be successful."

Wilson had eight kills, giving her 1,001 during her Mustangs tenure.

Morningside held control throughout the match. The Mustangs went on a five-point rally in the first set early, started by Wilson. Kyla Dyrstad had the assist.

Sydney Marlow and Dyrstad followed it up with kills in that rally, and the Mustangs forced the Chargers to two errors. The Mustangs held two different seven-point leads in Set 1, including the set-clincher from Adelyn Harris.

The Mustangs held an early 8-2 lead in Set 2. Payten Lode had an ace and a kill there, while Marlow had two kills. That set was clinched by Harris again.

To start the third set, Morningside scored the first six points. Wilson and Lode had three kills to start it out, then forced the Chargers to make three errors. The Mustangs had three separate five-point rallies during the final stanza.

"If we can continue practicing like this, I'm extremely happy with how we're going to perform on the court, no matter who we're playing," Squier said. 

Morningside hit .464 in Set 3, and during the match, it hit .253. Defensively, it held BCU to a minus-.029 clip.

Marlow and Lode led the Mustangs to 11 kills each. Dyrstad had a team-high 16 assists, followed by Aleksandra Dalach's 15.

Quinn Groves led her squad with 17 digs, while Lode had 13 and Dyrstad 10.