Pride fall in straight sets to Mount Mercy in Heart opener

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Hoping to use the momentum of their first win of the season on Saturday, the Clarke University men's volleyball team dropped their Heart of America Conference opener to Mount Mercy University by a 3-0 sweep.

The Mustangs were able to pull away and take each set by nine or more points in set scores of 25-16, 25-10, and 25-15 on their way to a 3-0 start to their 2023 season.

MMU was extremely efficient on the attack, hitting over .400 in all three sets including a .519 final set where they finished with 18 kills and only four errors on 27 swings. They were led by the outside hitting combination of Douglas Fofano and Akeel Oxley as they had 15 and 11 kills respectively with Fofano finishing with a .565 hitting percentage.

The Pride saw the right side combination of Justin Hernandez and Austin Silva combine for a 7-for-14 effort with only one error between the two of them as Silva finished 3-for-4 without an error and Hernandez finished 4-for-10 with a single error.

Clarke will continue at home for the remainder of the week with two more Heart matches this Thursday and Friday starting with Park University visiting the Kehl Center on Thursday for another 7:00 p.m. first serve.