Pride fall in straight sets on the road to Mount Mercy

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - In their second head-to-head meeting in just five days, the Clarke University men's volleyball team fell by a 3-0 final to Mount Mercy in the Hennessey Recreation Center on Tuesday night.

The Mustangs earned their second win over the Pride this season, this time coming in the form of a Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup as MMU too the sets 25-17, 25-16, and 25-18.

It was a significantly better night on the attack for the home team as Mount Mercy finished with a .402 team hitting percentage compared to just .060 for CU with just three more attacks for the Mustangs in the match. Attacking efficiency looked similar set-by-set as well with Clarke hitting .080, .000, and .097 subsequently in the three sets as MMU went .483, .310, and .414 in sets one, two, and three.

The matchup featured two of the three individuals who took home Heart weekly honors on Monday as reigning Attacker of the Week Lucas Rebula had a strong night finishing with a match-high 19 kills on 37 attempts for a .351 hitting percentage while adding a solo block and five digs defensively.

Stephen Lewandowski for the Pride finished with a team-high tying five kills on 12 attacks in his first match a day after earning his first career Heart Defender of the Week honor as he was efficient at a .417 hitting percentage without committing an error in the match.

Clarke men's volleyball will be off for the remainder of the week as they will return to the court in a week when they host Edgewood College at the Kehl Center on Feb. 8 at 7:00 p.m. CT.