Mustangs Split Opening Matches of the Season

FULTON, Mo. - The Mount Mercy women's volleyball team split the opening matches of the year on Friday, taking down Waldorf by a 3-1 score line, while falling to host school William Woods in a five set thriller, 3-2.

Match One

In the opener, the Mustangs jumped out to the early lead, taking the opening set by a score of 25-19. The Mustangs had a match best .387 hitting percentage in the opening frame, registering 14 kills. In the second set, MMU took the victory once again, taking the set 25-16. Following a Waldorf set win in the third, the Mustangs took the fourth set, 25-20, en route to the first win of the season.

Hallie Bedier and Jenna Brown each recorded double digit kills, with 12 and 10, respectively. Hailey Hested ended her opening match with 39 assists, while Bedier and Brown each recorded a pair of service aces in the win. The Mustangs were able to hold Waldorf at bay on the attacking end, holding Waldorf to just a .138 hitting percentage.

Match Two

The Mustangs once again jumped out to a two set lead, taking the opening sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-18. The Owls of William Woods would not go down quietly, taking sets three and four by scores of 28-26 and 25-19, before taking the decisive fifth set by a score of 15-8. The Mustangs trailed in the third set, but saw a seven point run to storm back to take the lead before dropping the third.

Jenna Brown led all attackers in the nightcap, ending with 23 kills, sitting just one kill outside the all-time leaderboard in school history for kills in a five set match. Brown also had a remarkable .512 hitting percentage in the loss to go along with a pair of service aces. Hailey Hested added another 49 assists, ranking 13th all-time for assists in a five set match.

For the Owls, they had four attackers with double-digit kills, led by Luciana Paiva Pereira with 12. Pamela Durazo led WWU in hitting percentage with a .769, as the team had a hitting percentage of .279 in the win.

The Mustangs will return to the court on Saturday to face off against Hannibal-LaGrange in Hannibal, Mo., with a first serve time of 1 p.m.