ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights men's volleyball team fell 3-1 to Lourdes on Sunday in a competitive match. Alex Garavalia (Kouts, Ind.) led the Saint with 14 kills in the losing effort.
THE BASICS
Final Scores: Lourdes 3, Siena Heights 1 (25-21, 25-20, 16-25, 25-23)
Location: Adrian, Michigan (SHU Fieldhouse)
Records: Lourdes (6-1, 4-1 WHAC), Siena Heights (2-2, 1-2 WHAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first set started with the teams trading points to a 4-4 tie before the Gray Wolves used a 3-0 run to go ahead 7-4. The lead grew to five points, 19-14 late in the set. The Saints rallied and used a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 19-18, forcing Lourdes to stop play with a timeout. The Gray Wolves then score three straight points out of the break before ending the first with a 25-21 decision for the 1-0 lead.
Siena started slowly in the second, spotting Lourdes five points to start things out. The Gray Wolves continued to build the lead eventually holding a nine-point advantage, 21-12, late. SHU rallied to come within four of tying, but Lourdes held on for a 25-20 win to take the 2-0 lead.
The third set was all Saints as they built a 10-3 lead to start things off. The advantage grew to nine points (21-12) at its peak before Siena closed out the set with a 25-16 edge to get on the board, 2-1. SHU's play at the net was a big reason for the Saints' success in the third game as the team recorded five blocks during the win in the third.
Lourdes hopped out to a 5-0 lead in the fourth that forced the Saints to call a timeout. Out of the stoppage, SHU rattled off five-straight points and tied the score at six. The teams traded points up to a 10-10 deadlock before the Gray Wolves scored three-straight, making SHU burn the final timeout of the game. Again, the Saints responded out of the timeout as they played Lourdes tough and the teams saw the score tied four more times up to 22 points each. Service aces proved to be the advantage for Lourdes as they recorded nine total in the match.
Despite the loss, the Saints (.208) outhit the Gray Wolves (.168) on the night. Siena also edged the Gray Wolves in blocks 19-17.
TOP SAINTS
• Garavalia hit .220 for the match while adding five digs to his stat totals.
• Kevin Gomez (La Estrella, Colombia) finished with 10 kills (.292), five digs, and a block.
• Joudiel Poveymirow (Orlando, Fla.) led the Saints defense with 12 digs.
• Jakob Pickett (Carmel, Ind.) totaled six blocks for the match.
THE OPPOSITION
• Jeff Lam led the Gray Wolves with 17 kills and 10 digs.
• Ricardo Gehrke (13) and Stefan Albrecht (12) both had double-digit kills for Lourdes.
UP NEXT
The men's volleyball team will take a one-match road trip to face Thomas More on Tuesday, February 23. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m., EST.
