GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Siena Heights men's volleyball team ended the Michigan Men's Volleyball Invitational at Aquinas with a 2-2 record after day two. The Saints dropped a five-set decision to Adrian College in the first match and were defeated in straight sets by host Aquinas in the second set.
THE BASICS
Final Scores: Adrian College 3, Siena Heights 2 (16-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 15-12) / Aquinas 3, Siena Heights 0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-21)
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan (Sturrus Center)
Records: Adrian College (2-1), Aquinas (3-0), Siena Heights (2-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Siena Heights vs. Adrian
The opening set was close for the first 11 points as the Saints held a slim 6-5 advantage before scoring two straight points for an 8-6 lead. A 3-0 run by Siena would push the advantage to 11-6. The Bulldogs cut the lead the four points but could not catch up before the Saints took the 1-0 lead.
Adrian rallied from a 5-2 deficit before using a 4-0 run to tie things at eight points. Later in the second set, the Bulldogs rattled off a 5-0 run to take a 20-19 lead. Adrian scored five of the final eight points in the set to tie the set score up at one-all.
The Bulldogs hopped out to a 4-2 lead to start the third set and would continue to maintain a small lead through much of the first part of the game. Four-straight points by the Saints tied the score at 15. Kevin Gomez (La Estrella, Colombia) was responsible for two kills during the run. The score was tied four more times but SHU would hold on for a three-point win and a 2-1 lead in the score.
The fourth set saw AC pull ahead to a 3-0 lead before building an 11-3 advantage. Siena Heights rattled off five points to pull within seven points (22-15) but the Bulldog lead was too much to come back from as Adrian forced a decisive fifth set.
The score was tied five times in the final set. The final tie came at 10-10 before the Bulldogs scored five of the final seven points to end the match with a 3-2 decision.
Siena Heights vs. Aquinas
Aquinas used a 6-0 run to pull ahead of Siena Heights 14-8 in the first set of the match. The home Saints eventually built a lead of 24-14 before ending the set with a 25-15 score to take the 1-0 lead.
SHU kept the score close in the second before taking a 17-15 lead off a kill by Bryce Johnson (Pickerington, Ohio). A 5-0 run from Aquinas flipped the score to 20-17 in favor of the home team. The hometown Saints built a 24-20 lead before creating a 2-0 lead.
Siena Heights would tie the score at 14, but would never gain a lead as the AQ Saints would end the match with a 25-21 win in the third.
TOP SAINTS
• Johnson finished the Adrian match with a team-high 25 assists w and 15 digs while also totaling nine kills. In the final match of the day, he led the Saints with eight kills while also recording seven digs.
• Evan Cashen (St. Joseph, Mich.) had a double-double against the Bulldogs with 12 kills and 13 digs.
• Gomez also tallied a double-double in match one with 10 kills and 12 digs.
• Marc Arsenault (Plainfield, Ill.) was the third Saint with double-digit kills (10) in the first match.
• Keegan Crawford (Columbus, Ohio) led SHU with 23 assists in the second match against Aquinas.
• Emilier De Jesus (Chesterton, Ind.) had 22 digs between the two matches on the day.
THE OPPOSITION
Adrian
• Noah Marcinkowski led with a match-high 29 kills while also registering 16 digs.
• Tedrick Gula also finished with 15 kills and 13 digs.
• Joseph Campana paced the Bulldog attack with 55 assists.
Aquinas
• Joshua Boothroyd led Aquinas with 16 kills.
• Colby Elder finished with 47 assists.
• Josh Evers led defensively with 19 digs.
UP NEXT
The Saints will remain on the road next week as they travel to Atherton, California to compete in the Oak Invitational hosted by Menlo University. Siena will face UC Merced at 2:00 p.m., and Life (Ga.) at 6:00 p.m., EST on Friday, January 17.
