The (RV) Park University women's volleyball program took on the Mustangs of Mount Mercy University on Friday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, delivering the 3-1 victory over the home 17-25, 26-24, 25-16, 25-22.

Park went to a 17-9 record and 7-5 Heart of America Athletic Conference record. The Mustangs are now 15-14 on the year and 11-4 in the Heart.

Park took advantage of a 6-2 run out of the gate, but the Mustangs countered 5-0 run to take a 9-7 lead. Down three points entering the last third of the set, 18-15, the Pirates were able to close the gap to two points on an attack error by Mount Mercy. A 7-1 run by the Mustangs gave them the opening set win, 25-17.

It was a toss up in set two, but the Pirates gutted out a victory to even the match score 1-1. First, Park took a 5-3 lead, but Mount Mercy was chomping at the bit with a 2-0 run to tie 5-5. A 4-0 run by the Pirates put them on top, 9-5. Avery Caskey earned a kill, while Amra Kovac had two blocks with Maria Pim assisting on one of them in that span. Park led by as much as 17-13 before the Mustangs got it all back and led 19-18. Five ties ensued the rest of the set, and the Pirates with their back to the wall faced set point at 24-22. A kill and block by Trinity Iverson tied the set at 24-all. From there a service ace by Daniela Gomez and another double-block by Caskey and Iverson gave Park the 26-24 win.

The wind was out of the Mustangs' sails, as a 6-0 run began set three. Mount Mercy got on the board, but another four points rained down, including kills by Gomez, Alvarez, and Izabella Ceratti, for a 10-1 lead. The Mustangs briefly clawed back in it at 16-13, but the Pirates made sure to put it out of reach, 25-16. Iverson again ended the set, this time with a kill.
It was tied 13 times in set four and it became another tight set out of the gate. There were three main shifts in the leads, as Iverson put up three kills in a 5-0 run to give Park a 15-10 lead. The second shift two different 5-0 runs for Mount Mercy to move out front 21-17 against Park. As expected, the Pirates did not back down from a challenge and earned eight out of the last nine points for the 25-22 win. Two kills by Ceratti put the match away, 3-1.

Ceratti led Park with 17 kills, while Iverson had her match-high in kills with 13. Matching Iverson's pace was Gomez with 13 kills as well, but Gomez also added a double-double to her stat line with 11 digs. Gomez also led Park with three service aces.

Angelina Rodriguez earned a double-double on 19 assists and 10 digs as well. Her teammate Alvarez contributed 21 assists for her team.

Defending extremely well were Park's two seniors Irene Verdino and Aly Anderson with 25 and 24 digs, respectively.
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