LEBANON, Tenn. -- The Siena Heights men's volleyball team split in its two matches at Cumberland. The first match was a 3-1 loss to William Penn. The Saints bounced back with a 3-0 win over host Cumberland in the nightcap. Alex Garavalia led the Saints with 24 kills on the day.
THE BASICS
Final Scores: Game 1: William Penn def. SHU, 3-1 (14-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-23) | Game 2: Siena Heights def. Cumberland, 3-0 (27-25, 25-14, 25-21)
Location: Lebanon, Tennessee (Dallas Floyd)
Records: William Penn (7-8), Siena Heights (5-4), Cumberland (5-7)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: William Penn def. SHU, 3-1
The Saints used runs of 3-0, 4-0, and 7-0 to take a quick 1-0 lead with a 25-14 win in the first set of match one against William Penn.
Set two went back and forth for much of the game as the teams tied several times throughout the duration. The final tie came at 16 before the Statesmen pulled ahead by two points and maintained that lead to put the score at 1-1.
The third game was much like set two with the score remaining close through the majority of it. A 3-0 run by William Penn gave them a 17-12 lead and Siena Heights couldn't cut much further into that deficit as they dropped the game and the Statesmen moved ahead 2-1.
The Saints surrendered a 12-10 lead when William Penn used a 4-0 run to capture the advantage. Siena remained within a few points of the leaders throughout the rest of the set, but couldn't tie the score before the Statesmen closed it out.
Game 2: SHU def. Cumberland, 3-0
The Saints used a 6-0 run to build a 7-3 lead early in the first. Cumberland rallied back and took a 14-11 lead which SHU was able to tie with a 3-0 run. The score would tie again eight more times in the set, the final of which was at 25. A service error gave the Saints match point and an attack error gave Siena the win and the 1-0 lead.
Siena rattled off the first four points of game two. The Phoenix was able to cut the lead down to one point, 5-4, but the Saints pulled away eventually building a double-digit lead, 20-10, and never looked back to gain the 2-0 edge.
A 4-0 run for SHU gave them a 6-3 lead in the third. The score eventually tied at 12 before another 4-0 run for Siena gave them the 16-12 lead. That run proved to be the difference in the end and the Saints finished the match with a 25-21 victory in the third.
TOP SAINTS
• Garavalia finished the second match with a .444 hitting percentage. He was also the only Saint attacker to have double-digit kills in both matches.
• Kevin Gomez had 21 kills and also hit .545 against Cumberland. He also had a team-high four blocks in the second match.
• Current NAIA Defender of the Week, Joudiel Poveymirow, tallied 18 of his 26 digs in the win over the Phoenix.
• Keegan Crawford recorded 34 assists in each match for a daily total of 68. He also contributed defensively with 14 digs.
THE OPPOSITION
• William Penn was led offensively by Ike Papes with 20 kills.
• Luka Ilic led Cumberland with 11 kills.
UP NEXT
The Saints will stay on the road with a WHAC matchup with Aquinas on Tuesday, March 9. That match is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m.
