January 31, 2022 | by Nate Croswell

LEAD

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The Sabercats put up a fight but dropped both games against the NAIA no. 14 Mount Mercy tonight.

Phillip Holbrook dropped a double-double in the first match 12 kills and 11 digs, while Tyler Lacock tallied five kills in the tough second match.

OVERVIEW

• Final: Maranatha 0-3 No. 14 Mt. Mercy (26-28, 14-25, 19-25)
• Final: Maranatha 0-3 No. 14 Mt. Mercy (7-25, 10-25, 9-25)
• Venue: Main Gymnasium, Maranatha Baptist University
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance: --
• Records: Maranatha (1-7), Mt. Mercy (6-2)

STORY

The Sabercats battled early against the strong Mustangs' team, as Jared Fopma and Phillip Holbrook tallied multiple kills each to propel the offense to compete with the high-powered attack of Mount Mercy. Throughout the set, Maranatha's largest lead was four points, while Mount Mercy's largest lead was just three. But at the score of 25-25, Fopma went down with an injury, and that seemed to kill the momentum the Sabercats had worked so hard to build. The NAIA's no. 14 team then went on to take the first set by a score of 28-26, barely eeking out the victory after the injury timeout.

The Mustangs would cruise to a victory in the second set, never trailing in the set and ending it with four straight aces. Holbrook and Jacob Valeria attempted to keep Maranatha in it with kills, but it proved to be a futile effort. But the Sabercats never gave up as they fought in the third set, keeping the score tied for a while until they reached 15-15. From there, the Mustangs found their roll again and ended the set with a 25-19 victory, taking the first match from Maranatha 3-0.

Despite the tough loss, the Sabercats continued to fight throughout and never gave up. Holbrook posted a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs. Before his injury in the first set, Fopma had already crushed five kills.

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The second game was a much different story. In an effort to give the bench players more experience, most of the starters sat out, which the Mustangs took advantage of to cruise to easy wins in the first (25-7) and second sets (25-10). The starters came back in for the third set, but Mount Mercy had found their rhythm for good and cruised to a 25-9 victory to secure their second sweep of the night.

In the second loss, Tyler Lacock took advantage of his opportunity and came up big with five kills. Jordan Hoffmann was also able to tally 14 digs in his first libero action of the night.

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Maranatha Starters (combined): 2- Mueller, 3- Elms, 4- Harris, 5- Jones, 6- Rossiter, 7- Lacock, 8- Hoffmann, 10- Warner, 11- Fopma, 12- Holbrook, 13- Holloway (L), 16- Kirchner, 17- Valeria

STATS 

• Box Score: Game 1 (TBA)
• Box Score: Game 2
• Last time: Mt. Mercy defeated Maranatha 3-0 on February 17, 2018
• Series: Mt. Mercy leads the all-time series 2-0 (as of 1/31)

OPPONENTS

• Mt. Mercy competes in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (NAIA)
• Mt. Mercy is coming off a strong 16-10 season in 2020-21 in which they beat Judson (Ill.) and Viterbo

NEXT

The Sabercats will finish their short homestand with a match against Viterbo tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. Follow at mbusabercats.com/schedule.