The Mount Mercy men's volleyball team has three shiny victories over  ranked teams this season, but now their matches against non-ranked  opponents have taken on extra meaning.

The Mustangs are chasing at least a share of the Heart of America  Conference title, something they'll achieve if they do not lose  another conference match this year.

The ninth-ranked Mustangs took a step in the right direction Friday  night with a 3-1 victory over Missouri Valley at the Hennessey  Recreation Center. The set scores were 25-21, 25-14, 23-25 and 25-17.

Grand View, the defending national champions, tops the Heart of  America Conference standings with an 8-1 record. Mount Mercy is  sitting in second place at 6-1 in the 10-game campaign.

For Mount Mercy, the goal is to win their final three matches in the  league and clinch at least a share of first place at 9-1.

The Mustangs upset Grand View when the Vikings were ranked No. 1  earlier in the season, but Grand View gained a measure of revenge by  defeating the Mustangs this past Wednesday.

Now the race is on for the title. If Grand View and Mount Mercy tie  for the regular-season crown, the Vikings will get the No. 1 seed for  the conference tournament and the Mustangs will be the No. 2 seed  based on a tiebreaker.

The No. 2 seed would get a bye in the first round of the conference  tournament and would automatically advance to the semifinals.

"That's our goal right now," Coach Mary Kay Van Oort said Friday  night. "That's our focus, which would be a really fabulous place for  us to be."

After the Mustangs lost to Grand View, Van Oort stressed the  importance of winning the rest of the league matches against  Graceland, Culver-Stockton and 10th-ranked Clarke in pursuit of the  title.

"Those are the ones that are maybe even more important to get us to  where we need to be at the end," she said.

The journey begins with a home match against Graceland on Saturday at  2 p.m. The matches against Culver-Stockton and Clarke will be on the  road.

Evan Gaskill led Mount Mercy with 15 kills against Missouri Valley.  Nikola Stoimenov had 14 kills and Ben Steffen collected 11.

Andrew Colantone rolled up 45 assists. Mitchell Wannahwilai made 12  digs. Ben Steffen and Strahil Svilenski had three blocks for the  Mustangs, who raised their overall record to 14-6.

Missouri Valley fell to 7-8 overall and 2-5 in the conference.