Ranked Mustangs Sweep V-Hawks

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Viterbo University Men's Volleyball team dropped a match 0-3 (16-25, 11-25, 22-25) on the road at #15 Mount Mercy University (Iowa) on Tuesday night. The V-Hawks fall to 4-3 on the year, while the Mustangs improve to 5-0.

Guven Gedikoglu recorded the first kill for the V-Hawks, followed by a Caleb Koza-Alex Kratzenstein block, but the Mustangs still built an early 12-6 lead. Kratzenstein added a pair of kills, while SJ Nelson added a solo block, but it was not enough as Mount Mercy won the first, 25-16.

A Koza kill and a variety of MMU errors had Viterbo with a slight 5-4 lead to start the second, but the Mustangs used a big run to go up 11-6. Gedikoglu's kill ended the run, but Mount Mercy stayed in control, as despite a Nelson solo block and Dane Kerkman kill, they would win 25-11.

Nelson provided a pair of kills as Viterbo started the third up 4-0, and a Kratzenstein-Logan Amdur block brought that lead to 9-5. Kratzenstein led the offense as the V-Hawks held on to a small lead, 17-15. Gedikoglu had two solo blocks to bring the score to 21-16, but MMU rallied with a 9-1 run for the win.

Nelson led the V-Hawks with seven kills on .438 hitting, while Kratzenstein added six on .417, and Amdur dished 17 assists. Akeel Oxley had eight kills for MMU, and Rafael Vieyra had 27 assists.

The V-Hawks return to action on Friday, February 9 for their home opener against #13 University of Jamestown (ND).