Morningside came into Oct. 5’s match with Dordt riding a 5-0 start at home, topped off with an impressive win against No. 12 in the nation Northwestern College.  That streak came to an end when the GPAC top seed, and member of the NAIA national top 10, Dordt Defenders came to town.  Dordt defeated Morningside in straight sets, with scores of 25-9, 25-14, and 25-19.

The Mustangs finished the night with 23 kills, led by junior Brittni Olson with five.  The team totaled a hitting percentage of just .101 across the three sets, posting an average of .200 in the third.

“We struggled early in serve receive and had a hard time getting our offense going,” stated Morningside’s head coach, Beth Donnelly. “I thought we were aggressive when we got swings but Dordt’s defense was relentless.”

Callie Alberico, a junior from Blair, NE tallied a team high 15 assists in the match.  She also led Morningside in the digs column, picking up seven of the team’s 26.

“We did have a good run in set 3 where I felt we competed hard, but not enough to get the win,” said Donnelly.  

The Mustangs, now 11-8, take to the road this week, visiting Dakota State on Oct. 12 and Jamestown on Oct. 13 at 5:00 and 7:30, respectively.