CHICAGO, Ill. -- The Siena Heights men's volleyball team defeated (RV) Saint Xavier (Ill.) 3-1 on Friday night in Chicago. Shevin Blades (Bridgetown, Barbados) led the Saints with six kills (.455) and six blocks.

THE BASICS

Final Score: Siena Heights 3, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 1 (25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-18)

Location: Chicago, Illinois (Shannon Center)

Records: Siena Heights (16-8), Saint Xavier (11-7)

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Cougars took an early 3-1 lead, but a 4-0 run by the Saints put things at 5-3. Another 3-0 run by SHU broke a 10-10 tie on the way to a six-point lead, 21-15. The Saints scored three of the last four to close out the first set with a 25-18 decision and a 1-0 lead.

The second set had 10 ties, the final being at 18 points. SHU took the lead off a service error from SXU and never looked back on the way to a 25-20 win to put the Cougars on their heels.

Siena Heights pulled ahead early with a 3-1 lead. Saint Xavier used a 4-0 run to take a 9-7 lead before the Saints reclaimed the advantage 12-10 with a 3-0 run. The Cougars tied the score at 14 and pulled ahead 19-15. The Saints rallied back and cut the deficit to two points but couldn't catch SXU before they pulled out a 25-22 victory for a 2-1 score.

The tally remained close through most of the fourth set up to a tie at 14 points. The Saints scored in small bunches to pull ahead 21-16 before closing out the match with a 25-18 win in the fourth set.

TOP SAINTS

• Kevin Gomez (La Estrella, Colombia) led the Saints with eight kills. He also totaled 11 digs.

• Bryce Johnson (Pickerington, Ohio) had seven kills, seven digs, and three blocks.

• Keegan Crawford (Columbus, Ohio) finished with 25 assists and seven digs.

• Reigning NAIA defensive player of the week Emilier De Jesus (Chesterton, Ind.) led the Saints with 14 digs.

THE OPPOSITION

• Grant Ooms had a match-high 15 kills and 16 digs.

• Cameron Petrusevski contributed 25 assists.

• Drew Ehlers had six kills and a team-high four blocks.

UP NEXT

The Saints head over to face Robert Morris (Ill.) on Saturday, March 7 at 1:00 p.m., EST.