ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights men's volleyball team defeated Aquinas in straight sets inside the SHU Fieldhouse house on Wednesday night. The Saints (8-2, 4-2 WHAC) completed their third-straight sweep of a conference opponent and the fourth in the last five matches.
Ramon Matos proved to be the biggest threat offensively for SHU as he led the team with 14 kills (.345) on the evening. Zak Tucker set the tone with 29 assists while adding six digs, three kills, and two blocks. In addition, Joudiel Poveymirow was all over the floor with a team-high 11 digs. Shevin Blades finished with seven kills and two blocks. Marc Arsenault also contributed seven kills, while Jakob Pickett recorded six kills and a block.
The match started with a close, competitive first set in which the teams went into extra points before the hometown Saints took the 26-24 win to capture the 1-0 lead. After that, neither team had more than a three-point lead throughout the first game of the three-set match.
The second set began much the same way until SHU used small spurts of points to climb ahead 14-9. The lead grew to 21-13 before ending with a 3-0 run sparked by Arsenault's kill that gave Siena the 10-point win (25-15) and a 2-0 edge.
SHU's back-to-back 3-0 runs earned a 13-9 lead in the third. Aquinas clawed back to tie the score at 15 before earning a 17-16 point lead. The teams traded points to a 20-19 lead for the visitors. A block by Tucker and Blades knotted the score at 20 while also starting a 5-0 run that gave the Saints in yellow the match point with a 24-20 score. Blades added the bow with a kill for the 25-21 decision and a 3-0 win for Siena.
Up Next
The Saints hit the road to begin a four-match road trip this Saturday, February 12, when the team faces Mount Vernon Nazarene in a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) meeting. The match with the Cougars is slated for a 3:00 p.m. opening serve.
