ADRIAN, Mich. – The Siena Heights men's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 defeat to Mount Vernon Nazarene in the SHU Fieldhouse on Friday night. Alex Garavalia (Kouts, Ind.) led the Siena Heights attack by recording 17 kills and hitting a solid .333 in the losing effort.
THE BASICS
Final Score: MVNU 3, SHU 1 (25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 25-22)
Location: Adrian, Michigan (SHU Fieldhouse)
Records: MVNU (2-4, 2-4 WHAC), Siena Heights (0-1, 0-1 WHAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cougars jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after back-to-back kills by MVNU. The lead grew to 6-2 before the Saints rattled off a 6-0 run to take an 8-7 lead and force the Cougars to stop play with a timeout. The Cougars responded with a 4-0 run to knot things up at 15 before using 3-0 and 4-0 runs to extend the lead to 23-17. Siena Heights rallied to within three points, 23-20, but the Cougars held them off for the set one win.
Like the first set, MVNU hopped out to a quick 3-0 lead. The Cougars led throughout the set, however, Kevin Gomez (La Estrella, Colombia) and Garavalia each tallied three kills in the second to help pull Saints within two points of tying the score, 19-17. Mount Vernon Nazarene completed the 2-0 lead with a 6-0 run that ended the second in its favor.
The Saints took a 4-1 advantage to start the third set. They eventually pulled ahead 10-4 before building a 17-10 lead. The Cougars failed to get much closer until a 5-0 run late had Siena's lead dwindle to 24-23. Garavalia put SHU on the board with a kill that sealed the 25-23 victory.
The fourth set remained close throughout much of the first half of set four, mainly due to Siena spotting the Cougars five of their first eight points on service errors. The Saints, trailing 18-13, roared back to tie the score twice before taking a 22-21 lead, but the team failed to finish as MVNU used a 4-0 run to end the set and with the match.
TOP SAINTS
• Garavalia led the Saints with 17 kills (.333). He also contributed two service aces, seven digs, and two blocks.
• Keegan Crawford (Columbus, Ohio) finished with a .364 hitting percentage and 36 assists. He also helped defensively with eight digs.
• Joudiel Poveymirow led the defense with 17 digs. He also recorded a team-high three service aces.
THE OPPOSITION
• Spencer Stanley led the Cougars with a double-double in kills (14) and digs (15).
• Landon Ewers also had double-digit kills with 12.
UP NEXT
The Saints travel across town to face Adrian College tomorrow. The match is set to begin at 8:00 p.m., EST.
