GOSHEN, Ind. -- The Siena Heights men's volleyball team fell 3-2 after forcing a fifth set on the road against ranked Goshen on Friday night. Joudiel Poveymirow put up a tremendous effort on defense with 31 digs to keep the Saints in the match throughout.
THE BASICS
Final Score: Goshen 3, Siena Heights 2 (22-25, 27-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-12)
Location: Goshen, Indiana
Records: Goshen (11-5, 5-2 WHAC), Siena Heights (4-3, 2-3 WHAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The opening set remained close until the Saints used a 5-0 run to earn a 10-7 edge. Goshen knotted things up at 14 before Siena pulled away for a 20-17 lead to maintain the lead and win the first set to jump ahead 1-0.
The Leafs took an early 3-0 lead and built it to a 14-7 advantage in the second. A monster 8-0 run by SHU saw the visitors jump ahead 22-20 late. The score would tie four more times before Goshen used a 3-0 run to win the set in extras, 27-25, and tie the score at one game each.
Much like the first two sets, the third was competitive and the score remained close for most of it. Goshen had a few more runs than the Saints did and were able to pull away for a 25-19 win and take the 2-1 lead. That would be the largest margin of victory for the match.
The fourth set was all Siena as the team took the 1-0 lead and never surrendered it. A 4-0 run by SHU pushed the lead to 17-12 before they closed out the set with a 25-22 decision to force a fifth.
The score remained close in the fifth as the teams traded leads and the tally was tied five times throughout. The Leafs used a 3-0 lead to pull ahead 14-11 before earning the win off a kill that put the score at 15-12.
TOP SAINTS
• Four Saints had double-digit kills: Alex Garavalia had 17, Bryce Johnson had 14, Kevin Gomex with 12, and Shevin Blades totaled 11.
• Keegan Crawford finished with a career-high 56 assists. He also finished with 16 digs for a double-double.
• Garavalia was the second Saint to achieve a double-double when he added 14 digs to his stat line.
THE OPPOSITION
• Alexander Rabadzhiev led Goshen with 27 kills. Michael Wahl had 53 assists and 14 digs.
UP NEXT
The Saints travel to Tennessee a week from today to compete in two matches. The first is against William Penn at 1:00 PM and the second is against host Cumberlands at 3:00 PM.
