ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights men's volleyball team improved to 6-0 in non-conference matches with a 3-1 win over crosstown rival Adrian College inside the SHU Fieldhouse on Friday night. The Saints (13-3) have now won four-straight matches and remain perfect through the final month of the season.
Alex Garavalia had the hot hand for the Saints as he finished with a .440 hitting percentage and was second on the team in kills with 13. Garavalia added four service aces, two assists, three digs, and three blocks to his performance. Ramon Matos led with 14 kills, five digs, and four blocks in the winning effort. Zak Tucker tallied 38 assists and 11 digs to complete his first career double-double. Joudiel Poveymirow was the anchor for the defense with a team-high 13 digs. Shevin Blades, Jakob Pickett, Tucker, and Matos led at the net with four blocks.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an 11-7 lead in the first set before Matos registered a kill that ignited an 8-0 run for the Saints and snagged a 15-11 advantage. Adrian scored three-straight points to cut the deficit to one point, 16-15, and force a SHU timeout. An attack error by the Saints pushed the Bulldog run to 4-0, and the score was tied at 16. Matos got another kill before AC spotted another point to SHU as the lead went to 18-16. A 4-0 run by SHU followed a Bulldog point and the score sat at 22-17 in favor of the home squad. Tucker gave SHU the set point with a kill, 24-21, but Adrian scored two consecutive to come within a score of tying before Siena closed the door to take the 1-0 lead.
Siena Heights hopped out to a 5-3 lead before Adrian tied the ledger with two points. A slow climb by the Saints grew the lead to 19-13 before a 4-0 run pushed things to 24-15. A service error by AC gave Siena the 25th point of the set, and the Saints led 2-0 in the match.
Adrian built a 14-11 lead in the third with its best offensive showing of the night as the team hit .310 with 15 kills. SHU rallied to tie the score at 14, but a 3-0 run by the Bulldogs later in the set gave the visitors a 20-17 advantage. The Saints would come within two of tying the score, but the rally fell short as the Bulldogs earned a 25-21 decision to prevent the sweep.
The fourth set was all Siena Heights as the team used two runs of four and a run of five points to build a commanding 16-7 margin. AC got no closer than 10 points away from the Saints as the match ended with a convincing 25-13 victory. SHU was perfect in the final game of the evening as they registered ten kills and no errors on the way to a huge .667 hitting percentage.
Up Next
Siena Heights will hit the road for a matchup at Mount St. Joseph this Sunday, March 13, at 3:00 p.m. This is the final non-conference match of the 2022 regular season.
