ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights men's volleyball team defeated Thomas More in straight sets on Tuesday night to remain unbeaten in non-conference play this season. The Saints (11-3) are now 5-0 against teams outside of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) and have only surrendered two sets in those five matches this season.
Ramon Matos was the offensive leader with 11 kills on the evening. Alex Garavalia recorded eight kills, five digs, and two blocks in the winning effort. Zak Tucker paced the Saints for the majority of the match as he ended the night early after 28 assists were on his stat line. Joudiel Poveymirow led defensively with seven digs.
Siena Heights never trailed in the first set despite the score remaining close at the start, with the teams tied at eight. Garavalia tallied a kill that started a 3-0 run to pull away 11-8 before eventually growing the lead to 18-12, forcing a Thomas More timeout. An attack error gave TMU a point that put the score at 21-14. A kill by Rasi Bailey sparked a 4-0 run that ended the first with a 25-14 decision for the hometown Saints.
SHU jumped out to a 3-0 lead to start the second. Thomas More battled back to cut the deficit to 6-4, but the Yellow and Blue slowly pulled away to a 17-10 advantage. Thomas More cut the margin to four points with a 3-0 run but couldn't get any closer than three points down before Siena took a 2-0 lead with a 25-20 win in the second.
Like the second, the SHU Saints jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead. Back-to-back 3-0 runs pushed the advantage to 12-4 before an attack error by the visitors gave SHU a 15-5 lead. Thomas More would come back within single digits but couldn't catch Siena Heights before a 25-20 win in the third ended the match.
Up Next
The Saints will remain at home to host Carlow this Friday, March 4, at 7:00 p.m. EST. That match will be the second of four-straight non-conference matchups for Siena Heights.
