ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights men's volleyball team suffered its first loss in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) play at the hands of No. 8 Aquinas in four sets on Friday night at the SHU Fieldhouse. Alex Garavalia led the Saints with 18 kills (.164) in the losing effort.

THE BASICS

Final Score: Aquinas 3, Siena Heights 1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-15)

Location: Adrian, Michigan (SHU Fieldhouse)

Records: Aquinas (9-0, 1-0 WHAC), Siena Heights (4-2, 1-1 WHAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Aquinas jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set but the Saints would rally to tie the game at four. The teams would trade points until Garavalia tallied two straight kills to give Siena a 9-6 lead. SHU continued to hold a small lead throughout the remainder of the set to gain the 25-23 decision and 1-0 lead in the set score. The Saints hit a match-high .308 hitting percentage on their way to the lead.

The visiting Saints built a 5-1 lead in the second before Siena rallied to cut the lead in half. Aquinas would then use a 7-0 run for a 12-3 lead that would force a home timeout. The SHU Saints would eventually cut the deficit to just four points (18-14) but would be unable to get any closer as the set score would tie at one apiece going into the third set.

The third game saw 11 ties, the final of which happened at 13 points when Aquinas would use runs fo 4-0 and 3-0 to pull ahead before earning a three-point win to gain a 2-1 lead in sets.

The Aquinas defense proved to be the difference in the match as they totaled 14 team blocks in the match.

TOP SAINTS

• Garavalia added two assists, six digs, and a block to his stat line.

• Keegan Crawford finished with 38 assists, two kills, nine digs, and four blocks.

• Jack Pranckus tied a match-high 16 digs on defense.

• Emmanuel Chaidez recorded six total blocks (1 solo, 5 assists) to lead the Saints in that category.

THE OPPOSITION

• Ruben Lopez was the leading Aquinas attacker with 16 kills (.343).

• Joshua Boothroyd and Zane Moothart tallied 15 and 13 kills respectively.

• Colby Elder had a match-high 52 assists.

• Josh Evers led the defense with 16 digs.

UP NEXT

The Saints travel to Elgin, Illinois next weekend to compete in the two-day Judson Tournament. Siena will face Lindenwood-Belleville a 1:00 p.m. and Rober Morris (Ill.) at 7:00 p.m. on the first day.