Mustang Weekly Recap (January 20-26)

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL: The Mustang men's volleyball program got their season started in the quest for another NAIA national tournament appearance with a pair of sweeps against Viterbo and Trinity Christian. The Mustangs would start the season off with a 25-18, 25-15, 25-21 win over Viterbo, highlighted by a .385 team hitting percentage in the third set. Newcomer Guglielmo Illotti would pace the Mustang attack, leading the team in kills with 12 on a .450 hitting percentage. Gabor Toth would nearly reach double digit kills, ultimately ending with nine. Gustavo Kehl Bauer, in his first game in a Mustang jersey, contributed 27 assists.

Against Trinity Christian, the Mustangs would have their way with the Trolls, winning each set by at least 11 points, with two sets having a scoreline of 25-11. The Mustangs would hold the Trolls of TCC to a negative hitting percentage in two of the three sets played. Kevin Fiedler would lead the team in kills in the match with eight, owning a hitting percentage of .538. Four Mustangs would hold a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage, led by Matthew Krzos with a pair of kills. Both Kehl Bauer and Maks Cabajewski would record 13 assists in the win.

MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD: Starting the weekend at the Cyclone Open in Ames, Keegan Thompson earned a qualifying spot for nationals, earning a B qualifying mark in the 60 meters, clocking a finals time of 6.81, which led the field. Thompson would also finish fourth in the 200 meters, as both of his times would rank second in the conference. In the 600 yard final, Jordan Schroeder would finish third in the event, clocking a time of 1:13.04.

At the Hilltop Invitational hosted by Cornell, BJ Huggins would place sixth in the 60 meters, recording a time of 7.14. In the 60 meter hurdles, Perez Hemmings placed third in the event with a time of 8.73, setting a new season high. Trevor Leitheiser would set a new season best in the 400 meters, ending in third place with a time of 52.74. The top men's finish of the day came from Ryan Mitchell, clocking a time of 8:48.39 in the 3000 meters.

WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD: In a limited field at the Cyclone Open, Brooklyn Johnson would place 15th in the 400 meter final with a time of 1:03.57, while putting up a top 10 spot in the long jump with a mark of 5.09 meters. In the Hilltop Invitational, Kendall Orozco finished third in the mile with a time of 5:36.76. In the 3000 meters, Abby Knepper would take the runner up spot with a time of 10:32.34 while teammate Kayla Overton would finish sixth with a time of 11:10.69. Haley Hartshorne would set a new season best in the high jump, earning a 1.45 meter mark.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: The Mustangs handed Missouri Valley just their fourth loss of the season in an 84-64 win. Sam Kiel set a season high of 21 on 8-15 shooting. Malie Marfil (14), Ellie Morrill (13), and Annika Headington (11) would also join Kiel in double figures. Morrill and Isabel Wallschlaeger would each lead the team in assist with four. Madison Skelton would nearly record a double double, adding nine points and eight rebounds in the win.

MEN'S BASKETBALL: The Mustangs would fall to Missouri Valley, 82-73. In his return to the court, Jaxson Fried scored 19 points on 6-12 shooting, including hitting four shots beyond the arc. Rusmir Hamzic and Ahmad Ingram would join Fried in double figures, scoring 13 and 10 respectively. Hannes Bergmann would lead the squad in rebounds with seven, while Ingram would lead the team in assists with five.

MEN'S BOWLING: The men's bowling team secured their second straight tournament win, taking home the title at the Kohawk Invite. Zach Andresen and Andru Blaney each finished on the all-tournament team, finishing first and fourth overall respectively. Andresen led all bowlers with a total pinfall of 1167, which was good for a 233.4 average, while Blaney had a pinfall of 1118, good for an average of 223.6. On the JV side, Harley Shene would finish sixth overall, with a total pinfall of 1095. Shene would have his best game in the fifth game, bowling a 265.

WOMEN'S BOWLING: The Mustang women's program had to fight their way back in the competition heading into the second day, ultimately securing their third straight tournament win. Brooke Salzman led the varsity bowlers with a total pinfall of 980, good for an average of 196 per game. On the JV side, Chloe Day and Emma Punter would finish fifth and sixth respectively, as Day would land on the all-tournament team. Day would end with a pinfall of 1024, good for an average of 204.8, while Punter would end with a pinfall of 988.