Men’s volleyball team battles in thrilling five-set loss to Fontbonne

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team battled in a five-set loss to Fontbonne (Mo.) University this afternoon at Mabyee Gymnasium in St. Louis, Missouri. The Comets won two of the first three sets before the Griffins won the fourth and fifth sets to claim the come-from-behind victory.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Fontbonne def. Olivet 27-29, 25-20, 23-25, 25-12, 15-11
Location: Maybee Gymnasium; St. Louis, Mo.
Records: Fontbonne 11-11 overall, 6-10 MCVL; Olivet 2-12 overall, 0-10 MCVL

HOW IT HAPPENED

• For the majority of the opening first set, neither team led by more than two points. The Comets built the largest advantage at three points, 19-16. Olivet maintained that three-point cushion until the Griffins came back to tie the set at 22-22. The Comets scored the next two points before Fontbonne answered with two straight points to level the score at 24-24. The teams traded the next six points for three tied scores at 25-25, 26-26 and 27-27. A Griffin ball handling error and a kill by freshman Brock Pringle ended the set in Olivet's favor.
• In the second set, Fontbonne held a 6-4 lead. The Comets went on a 6-1 run to go up 10-7. Olivet stretched its advantage to as many as four points, 17-13. The Griffins ended the set on a 12-3 scoring spurt to win it, 25-20.
• In the third set, Olivet had the lead until Fontbonne took the lead for the first time, 13-12. The Comets rallied to even the score at 15-15, 17-17 and 18-18. Olivet put the next two points on the scoreboard to go up 20-18. The Griffins answered with three straight points to take the lead back, 21-20. There were three tied scores, 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23 before Olivet won the set on kills by freshmen Trent Robinson and Andrew McCormick.
• The Comets led the fourth set 3-1 until Fontbonne went on a 5-0 run to gain a 6-3 lead. The Griffins did not surrender the lead for the rest of the set to force a deciding fifth set.
• Early in the fifth set, both teams had two-point leads – Olivet at 5-3 and Fontbonne at 7-5. The Comets came back with three consecutive kills to grab the lead back 8-7. The Griffins responded with a 7-0 run for a 14-8 lead. Olivet scored three straight points before a Fontbonne kill concluded the set for its win.

FOR THE COMETS

• Robinson tied the single-match school record with 19 kills.
• Senior Luke DeWitt joined him in double figures with 11 kills. He also broke the single-match record with nine blocks, including tying the record with seven assisted blocks.
• McCormick, Brock Pringle and junior Rhett Pringle each had seven kills.
• Freshman Aaron Giorgi set a new single-game benchmark for set assists with 49.
• Freshman Zach Pringle had a team-leading 16 digs, the second-most in school history for a match.

FOR THE GRIFFINS

• Stephen Lendy slammed down a team-leading 17 kills, followed by Brendon Schwartze with 15 kills.
• Lendy posted a match-best nine service aces.
• Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell recorded a team-best 42 set assists.
• Zach Rothstein led all players with 20 digs.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Olivet broke five single-match team records – kills (54), attack attempts (148), set assists (53), digs (65) and total blocks (16.0). The Comets tied the single-match record for assisted blocks (24). 

UP NEXT

• Olivet hosts North Central College on both next Tuesday, March 21, at 7 p.m. and Wednesday, March 22, at 4 p.m.