SIOUX CITY, Iowa – On Saturday, the Southwestern College volleyball team was faced with two difficult matchups to conclude their time in Sioux City, Iowa at the Charger Invitational. They battled Valley City State University to begin their busy day, falling 25-22, 25-16, 28-26, before dropping their second battle to Mount Mercy University by a final of 25-21, 27-25, 25-6.

In the opening bout against the Vikings of Valley City State University, the Builders fought hard in the first set, as they converted on 12 of 40 total attacks in the frame. That number put their attacking percentage up at the .150 mark. They did commit six errors, though the Vikings had seven in the set. Finally, VCSU was able to scrape by with a 25-22 victory in the opening stanza.

SC had easily their least productive set of the match in the middle of the three that were played. Just five kills on 36 attacks, including 10 errors, gave the Moundbuilders a negative attacking clip (-.139). Meanwhile, it wasn't the Vikings' best set, but it was certainly good enough to win the second set by a tally of 25-16.

The final stanza was a bit of a heartbreaker for the Builders, as they were able to fight back after trailing 24-22, ultimately taking a 25-24 lead with a chance to win the set. Then, though, they allowed VCSU to score four of the next five points to win the match with a 28-26 triumph in the final set.

Match number two against Mount Mercy was difficult to gauge for the Southwestern squad, as they showed tremendous fight in the first two sets of the battle. In the opener, they fell behind 13-7 after allowing a 6-0 run to get to that point, but responded by finishing the set with an advantage of 14-12 over the last 26 points. Ultimately, they dropped the first set by a final of 25-21.

The momentum really swung in the Mustangs' favor in the second when the Builders led the majority of the way, but failed to hold their lead. They led by as many as six points, and as late as the 21-15 mark. Unfortunately, they allowed MMU to go on a 9-1 run to take a 24-22 lead and threaten the Builders with game point. SC responded with three straight points and a game point chance of their own, making it 25-24 in favor of the good guys. Like a pendulum, the momentum quickly shifted again, as Mount Mercy finished off the Builders by scoring the next three points to take a 27-25 win in the second.

The roller-coaster ending to the second set that favored MMU put a huge damper on the final set of the Charger Invitational for Southwestern, as they had a tough set in which they had just four kills and nine errors. They attacked at a -.156 clip, while allowing a percentage of .414 to the Mustangs. It was a bitter way to end the event, falling 25-6 to suffer the straight-set sweep.

Grace Webster made her first two appearances of the campaign on Saturday and made the most of her opportunity, tying for the team-high in kills in the bout against the Vikings with seven. She then added six more in the second tilt, while attacking at over a .350 clip in both matches. Cierra Harrison was also impressive again, tallying 14 kills on 40 total attempts over the course of six sets played on Saturday.

The assist torch went to Sierra Norlin on Saturday, as she had 20 in game one and provided 11 assists in match number two. She was helped in that department by Reece Likes, who tallied a total of 13 in the first match and eight in the latter of two bouts.

Sophia Wicker compiled 50 total digs in two matches on Saturday, tallying 27 in the VCSU match, and 23 more against Mount Mercy. She was the only Builder to reach double-digit digs in the first match, and was joined by just Norlin (15) in the second tilt. Six block assists were tallied over the course of two matches, including one by Harrison in each matchup.

With a disappointing set of results, the Moundbuilders (1-3) have dropped three straight tilts after dominating Peru State at home to open the campaign. It will be a trip back home next on the schedule for a scrimmage with Rose State College on Tuesday, August 30 at 6 p.m. at Stewart Field House. Then, the Builders head down to Oklahoma City for the Mid-America Christian University Triangular on Wednesday, August 31. They will play Oklahoma Wesleyan at 5 p.m. and MACU at 7 p.m. that evening before entering the month of September.

--buildersports.com--