Men’s volleyball team splits season-opening matches in home triangular

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team split two matches in its season-opening triangular inside The Cutler Event Center in Olivet. The Comets swept Brooklyn (N.Y.) College in three sets before falling to Fontbonne (Mo.) University in four sets.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Olivet def. Brooklyn 25-22, 25-15, 25-23
Location: The Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Mich.
Records: Olivet 1-0 overall, Brooklyn 0-1 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the first set, the Bulldogs held a three-point lead, 14-11.  The Comets came back with a 4-0 run, including three straight aces by senior Luke DeWitt to take a 15-14 lead. Brooklyn answered with three consecutive points to go back up 17-15. The teams then caused six tied scores. After the last one at 22-22, Olivet ended the set with a 3-0 scoring spurt to win the set, 25-22.
• Following a 6-6 deadlock in the second set, the Comets scored the next point and did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the set.
• After the Bulldogs led 1-0 in the third set, Olivet put six straight points. The Comets would stretch their lead to eight points, 20-12. Brooklyn fought back and cut its deficit down to a single point, 24-20, before a kill by freshman Brock Pringle closed the set and match.

FOR THE COMETS

• For the match, Olivet recorded 39 kills, with 18 errors on 79 attempts for a .139 attacking percentage.
• DeWitt finished with 10 kills. He had only two attack errors on 14 swings for a .571 hitting percentage.
• Freshman Trent Robinson registered eight kills to go along with a team-leading seven digs.
• As a team, the Comets served 14 aces, including four each for DeWitt and freshman Andrew McCormick.
• Freshman Mathew Caamal dished out 23 set assists.

FOR THE BULLDOGS

• Brooklyn posted a .100 attack percentage on 23 kills and 16 errors on 70 attempts.
• Rudy Zhao had a team-best 10 kills and 10 digs.
• Vaughn Titus recorded eight kills.
• Eddie Peng collected 13 set assists.

THE BASICS

Final Score: Fontbonne def. Olivet 25-20, 25-15, 23-25, 25-21
Location: The Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Mich.
Records: Olivet 1-0 overall, Fontbonne 2-0 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Comets opened the first set on a 10-2 run. Olivet continued to lead at 15-10 before the Griffins went on a 7-0 run to take a 17-15 lead. Fontbonne did not give the lead for the rest of the set.
• Olivet only led briefly in the second set, 2-1. The Griffins scored four straight points for a 5-2 advantage and never looked back.
• The Griffins led the third set by four points, 10-6. The Comets fought back to tie the set 12-12. Fontbonne then took a 17-16 lead. Olivet put the next three points on the scoreboard for a 19-17 lead. The Griffins responded their own 3-0 run to regain the lead 20-19. The teams traded points for a 21-20 score.  The Comets had three consecutive points to go up 23-21 before two Olivet errors leveled the score at 23-23. A DeWitt kill, followed by a Fontbonne attack error let the Comets win the set 25-23.
• The fourth set saw the Griffins take a four-point lead, 10-6.  Olivet got as close as one point on three occasions, with the last time being 15-14.

FOR THE COMETS

• Olivet had a .168 hitting percentage on 42 kills and 21 errors on 125 attempts.
• McCormick slammed down a team-leading 14 kills
• DeWitt joined him in double figures with 12 kills.
• McCormick and DeWitt had identical .194 attack percentages.
• Robinson and junior Rhett Pringle each had three services aces.
• Robinson collected a team-best eight digs.
• Caamal registered 36 set assists.

FOR THE GRIFFINS

• With 54 kills and 18 errors on 116 attempts, Fontbonne had a .310 attack percentage.
• Stephen Lendy recorded a match-best 18 kills, followed by Brendon Schwartze with 15.
• Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell and Jacob Lendy split time at setter, dishing out 25 and 15 assists, respectively.
• Zach Rothstein led the team with 11 digs.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORES

• Tonight's matches were the start of the second season as a varsity sport for the men's volleyball program.
• DeWitt's and McCormick's four aces against Brooklyn were a single-match school record.
• The team's 14 aces against Brooklyn are also a single-match school record.
• In the third match of the triangular, Fontbonne beat Brooklyn in three sets 25-15, 25-11, 25-19.

UP NEXT

• Olivet opens Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League play next Friday when it hosts preseason favorite Carthage (Wis.) College at 7 p.m.