Pride swept in tight match at Morningside

Pride swept in tight match at Morningside
Box Score
March 1, 2025

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Closing out their first conference road trip to begin the month of March, the Clarke University men's volleyball team dropped a tight three set match that didn't have a sweep feel with set scores of 26-24, 27-25, and 25-21 for a Morningside University victory.

The Pride got out to a sizable advantage in the first set leading by five points on various occasions but MU came storming back using a pair of 3-0 runs to first tie the match, then take a two-point lead at 22-20 before CU would take the set to extra points at 24-24 before the final two points would be scored by the Mustangs on a Natan Alves kill and a block from Tharen Cox and Liam Lutz.

In the second, neither side held an advantage larger than a three-point Morningside lead at 14-11 before a 4-0 Clarke run gave them a lead that turned into a back-and-forth finish where CU would have a set point opportunity at 25-24 before a service error, an ace from Alves and an attacking error from the Pride.

The third and final set saw the Mustangs jump out to a five-point advantage after the score was tied 16-16 and hold the lead long enough to close out a four-point set win to close out the match.

Each side had one member of their attack with double digit kills as Avles had 11 to lead the way for MU while Justin Hernandez had a 14-kill, seven-dig, and four-block day to produce 18 points, leading the match in kills, digs, and points.

Both teams finished with a high amount of errors for a three set match but Clarke's 27 would end up more than the 22 from the Mustangs as two members of the CU lineup finished with a negative hitting percentage and five had three or more errors compared to just one player in the negative for MU.

Pride men's volleyball will stay on the road for their next four matches, being off in the midweek for their next match to come on Friday, Mar. 7 when they travel to St. Louis, Mo. to take on University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy for a 7:00 p.m. CT scheduled first serve against the Eutectics.