V-Hawks Fall to Mount Mercy

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Viterbo University Men's Volleyball team hosted #15 ranked Mount Mercy University (Iowa) on Wednesday, falling 0-3 (34-36, 17-25, 17-25). The V-Hawks fall to 4-6 on the year, while the Mustangs improve to 8-0.

Juan Banda started the match with a kill for the V-Hawks, while a Logan Amdur-Dane Kerkman block helped give Viterbo an early 5-2 lead. After a big run for the Mustangs, Guven Gedikoglu tied the match with a kill, 9-9, while Ethan Davis recorded a solo block as Viterbo trailed, 11-14. Dane Kerkman contributed a pair of late kills, in tandem with kills from Gedikoglu, to help the V-Hawks tie the set back at 24-24. The teams then alternated the next 20 points, with Viterbo scoring off a variety of Mustang errors, and kills from Max Dugan, Caleb Koza, and Gedikoglu, but MMU outlasted Vu, 36-34.

The second set started very close, with eight ties by the time the score reached 9-9. Davis led the offense with a pair of kills, while a Koza solo block tied the match again, 11-11. An Alex Kratzenstein-Amdur block followed a Gedikoglu kill to bring the score to 15-18, but Mount Mercy pulled away for the 25-17 win.

While the Mustangs started the third set up 10-6, only two of the points came from Gedikoglu kills, and the rest were MMU errors. Kratzenstein added kills throughout the set, and Kerkman added one late, but Mount Mercy took the set and match, 25-17.

Gedikoglu led the V-Hawks with nine kills, and Kratzenstein added five on .500 hitting. Amdur dished 22 assists with two blocks, and Banda had six digs. Akeel Oxley had 14 kills, and Raphael Massara recorded six service aces for the Mustangs.

Viterbo returns to action on Friday, February 16 at Dordt University (Iowa).