SYLVANIA, Ohio -- The Siena Heights men's volleyball team upset the fifth-ranked Lourdes Grey Wolves in straight sets on Tuesday night. The Saints (6-2, 2-2 WHAC) handed Lourdes its first loss of the season and improved to 2-2 in conference play.
Ramon Matos led the charge for SHU with 13 kills in addition to six digs. Zak Tucker paced play in the win with 30 assists. Joudiel Poveymirow anchored the backline and led with a team-high 11 digs.
Lourdes hopped out to a 9-2 lead in the first, but SHU battled back to tie the score at 20 before a 3-0 run gave them a 23-21 lead and forced a timeout by the Grey Wolves. Poveymirow got a service ace to give Siena the set point before a service error by Lourdes handed SHU the 1-0 lead. The Saints came out firing in the first as they accumulated a .391 hitting total for the opening frame.
The hot hands continued in the second set, as Siena tallied a .333 team total as they pulled away to a 2-0 lead following the in in the second. The score remained closed through most of the set with multiples, including a deadlock at 17. Following a point that gave the home team an 18-17 lead, Jakob Pickett registered a kill that sparked a 4-0 run and forced Lourdes to stop the momentum with a timeout as SHU pulled ahead 21-18. The dagger that gave Siena the victory was a 3-0 run that ended with a kill from Shevin Blades.
The third set resembled the second with ties up into the teens, with the final one at 16. The Saints built a three-point advantage with bursts of points until Lourdes pulled within one point with a service ace that had the score showing 23-22 in favor of the visitors. Alex Garavalia got a kill that put the score at match point before Pickett finished things with a kill that gave Siena the second win over Lourdes in program history.
UP NEXT
The Saints are scheduled to host Lawrence Tech in a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) matchup this Friday, February 4. The match between the Saints and Blue Devils is set for 7:00 p.m.
