The Raven Volleyball Team rode the roller coaster of momentum and pulled out a 3-1 win against the Mount Mercy Mustangs on Sunday afternoon in the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium. The win was secured with a wild 30-28 fourth-set victory, the fifth-straight win for the Ravens.
The Ravens fell behind 4-0 to start the first set of the day, but then took control of the contest to take a 25-20 win. That momentum carried over into the second set as the Ravens earned a dominating 25-12 win to move in front 2-0 in the match.
That's when momentum swung in favor of the Mustangs. Mount Mercy won the third set 25-12 to avoid the sweep and then took the lead in the fourth set. Momentum wasn't done swinging, though.
For much of the fourth set, the Ravens found themselves within arm's reach of the Mustangs. The Ravens were consistently down 1-3 points as the teams inched towards 25 points. As has been the case in this Ravens winning streak, the team showed grit and determination to stay in striking distance.
Finally, with no room to spare as the Mustangs served for set-point, the Ravens were able to even things out at 24-24. The race for the 2-point win was on as the teams traded points and were tied 28-28. That's when the Ravens grabbed complete control of the match, scoring twice for the 30-28 set win to claim the match victory.
Fleur Wesselink recorded a team-high 17 kills while Sara Rahmanzai added 15 and Makenna Ketter notched 13 kills. Paxton Throne had 50 assists and 15 digs. Abby Brown led the Ravens with 20 digs and also recorded two aces. Sydney Wiedenmann also had an ace to go along with 14 digs. Wesselink had 14 digs and Taylor Shroll had 11 digs.
The Ravens had 14 block assists in the match. Elizabeth Nobert and Wiedenmann each had four block assists and Rahmanzai had three.
In the match, the Ravens had a .212 attack percentage, including a .362 percentage in the decisive fourth set.
The win moves the Ravens to 12-8 on the season and 7-3 in Heart of America Conference action. It's also the final match before the team hits the road for three-straight contests. The Ravens will step outside of Heart play for a match in Point Lookout, Mo. against the College of the Ozarks on Tuesday, Oct. 2.
