THE OVERVIEW

• Results: Maranatha 0-3 Trinity Christian (15-25, 17-25, 16-25), Maranatha 0-3 Mt. Mercy (19-25, 17-25, 13-25)
• Venue: Maranatha Baptist University
• Attendance: 231, 216
• Record: Sabercats are now 1-3
• Next Match for MBU: Saturday, Jan. 27 - 11 a.m. at Lakeland

THE LEAD

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The Sabercats found themselves matched up against 2 powerful NAIA schools today, dropping 2 matches at the MBU Triangular.

MBU suffered back-to-back 3-0 losses against a couple of seasoned programs. Derek Wallis once again led the attack for Maranatha on the day, as he recorded 15 kills in the triangular.

THE STORY

The Trinity Christian College Trolls showed their power right from the start, as they came out with some quick hitting. The Sabercats were up to the task, though, as they matched the Trolls' first-match energy. The opening set played out to a 10-10 tie, but it was then that the Trolls took off. Riding the energy of their first match of the season, the visitors went on a 15-5 run to close out the first set.

Maranatha didn't have their best showing at the net, as an attack line of 3-8-20 revealed an uncharacteristic showing on offense for MBU.

Under constant pressure from a spirited and powerful TCC squad, the Sabercats saw the last two sets slip away with similar scorelines.

Derek Wallis registered 7 kills in the match, but the Sabercats struggled as a collective whole on offense - the unit combined for a -.159 attack percentage against the determined Trolls defense.

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Against a tall and relentless Mount Mercy team in the final match of the triangular, the Sabercats found the Mustangs' power to be hard to deal with. With the odds stacked against them, however, the Sabercats stayed close in the first set. Determined blocking and some varied attack from Wallis kept the Sabercats in it, but Mount Mercy took the 25-19 win. 

The Sabercats couldn't find the holes in an ever-present Mustangs defense in the last two sets. A rigid defensive unit from MMU limited the Sabercats to just 10 kills from the last two frames. Meanwhile, the Mustangs showed their strength and size, slamming down 30 kills in the final 2 sets to take home a 3-0 win.

THE NUMBERS

Wallis led the attack for MBU with 15 kills.

Joel Depue put in a hard shift on defense, as he finished the day with 16 digs.

Matt Wetzel dished out 18 assists on the day.

THE CALENDAR

The Sabercats will travel to Lakeland University next Saturday for an 11 a.m. start time. Catch the details at mbusabercats.com/composite.