Pride split matches against Mount Mercy and Morningside
DUBUQUE, Iowa - In the midst of their five-match week, the Clarke University men's volleyball team earned their first home win of the 2022 season as they swept Morningside University following CU's earlier defeat by a 3-0 final at the hands of Mount Mercy.
The Pride faced off against both sets of Mustangs in non-conference matches despite Mount Mercy also being in the Heart of America Athletic Conference with Mount Mercy also earning a win against Morningside prior to Clarke and Morningside squaring off in the finale of Firday evening's trimatch in the Kehl Center.
CU took the sets against Mornginside by set scores of 27-25, 25-20, and 25-15 to exact a bit of revenge as the Mustangs earned a five-set win over Clarke in Sioux City less than a week ago and Mount Mercy was able to earn their sweep over Clarke by scores of 28-26, 25-18, and 25-22 to take the day's opening tilt.
In their win over Morningside, Michael Jenkins and Stephen Lewandowski led the way on the attack with Jenkins finishing with a match-high 15 kills on 29 attempts for a .345 hitting percentage. Jenkins added 10 digs for a double-double and finished with two aces to contribute for 17 total points in the match. Lewandowski hit for a .615 hitting percentage, finishing the match without an error in 13 attempts for eight kills as he also added four block assists in the match.
Morningside was led by 15 kills from Isaiah Baynes, tying Jenkins for the match-high, as he was less efficient than the Pride's senior finishing with a .162 hitting percentage that contributed in part to the Mustangs only finishing with a .076 hitting percentage as a team.
Against Mount Mercy, Jenkins and Lewandowski had similar statlines as their second match of the night but it wasn't enough to overcome a pair of stelar performances from the Mustangs' Lucas Rebula and Evan Gaskill who combined for 41 kills on 74 attempts with Rebula hitting .447 in the match and Gaskill finishing at a .278 percentage.
A bright spot for the Pride towards the end of the Mount Mercy match was Timothy Meyer's 2-for-3 finish on the attack that helped him earn a starting role in the Morningside match at opposite hitter as he finished the night cap going 5-for-12 with only two errors while adding seven digs.
Clarke men's volleyball will continue this weekend with another pair of home matches on Saturday at the Kehl Center as they will face off with Ottawa University and St. Xavier University at 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. CT respectively.