Spikers were handed their second loss in the national tournament     Photos: Jamie Vander Kooi, Catie Bobier, Lindsay Hansen By Ashley Catchpole The Mustang Volleyball team suffered two losses in their first National Tournament appearance. On the opening day of the tournament, Morningside fell 3-1 to their first opponent, the Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions. The Mustangs won the opening set in a hard fought 25-21 set. Catie Bobier, Amber Jarzynka, and Addi Radke, had crucial kills against the Sea Lions, to carry that set win. From then on, it was all Point Loma. Morningside dropped the next two sets, 14-25 and 13-25. In the last set, the Mustangs fell behind early, but closed it to 19-18 with solid kill play by Jarzynka. Morningside eventually dropped that set 22-25. Senior Catie Bobier was the key factor in keeping the Mustangs in this match. She landed her first double-double of the year with 22 digs and 10 kills, and only nailed the Mustangs only ace serve against Point Loma. The National Tournament features pool play, which is a style of play dividing 24 teams into 6 pools, where the top two from each will advance to the championship bracket. Morningside’s pool is made up of Point Loma, Black Hills State University, and Defending National Champs, Fresno Pacific University. On day two, Morningside needed to get the win against Black Hills State. Knowing that they face the number one team in the country on Thursday, this match over Black Hills State was a must-win. Unfortunately, that isn’t the way it worked out. Wednesday served up defeat in three sets for the Mustangs, losing to the Yellow Jackets 22-25, 19-25, and 21-25. Black Hills posted a strong defense that disabled many kill attempts for Morningside. Dropping to 0-2, Morningside will not be advancing beyond pool play. The final game of the season will be played against No. 1 Fresno Pacific, Thursday night at 6 p.m. at the Tyson Events Center. The Mustangs will take a record of 36-6 into that match-up, and this will be the last game in a Morningside uniform for seniors Catie Bobier, Amber Jarzynka, and Kali Angerman. (Dec. 5)       Sports Home