Morningside falls in four to Viterbo

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – In four heavily contested sets, the Mustangs fell at home to Viterbo Saturday afternoon.

Viterbo took the match 27-29, 25-21, 25-22, 26-24. The fewest amount of points scored in a set was Morningside's 21 in set two and two of the four sets took extra points to decide a winner. 

Morningside hit .314 in the first set and scored the final two points after Viterbo tied the set at 27 by way of two Isaiah Baynes kills.

Viterbo stepped their game up following the first set, hitting over .300 for the remainder of the game, including a blistering .387 in the third set. After hitting .314 in the first set, the Mustangs dipped to .222 in the second set and hit under .200 in the final two sets.

Morningside lost the second and third sets by four and three points respectively. The Mustangs had a chance to force a fifth set after Jacob Baynes recorded a kill to make it 24-23 Morningside. Three straight for the V-Hawks gave Viterbo the set and the win.

Natan Alves and Baynes recorded over 20 kills each. Alves tallied 22 and Baynes 20. Alves also had 10 digs. Ferdinando Vinti and Tharen Cox added 10 kills each. Vinti had a double-double with 11 digs to go with his kill total. Jacob DePauw racked up 61 assists and Owen Anderson had 21 digs. 

Morningside opens up conference play at home with a pair of matches next weekend. The Mustangs host Kansas Wesleyan Friday at 6 p.m. and Central Christian Saturday at 1 p.m.