Men’s volleyball ends home schedule with win against Illinois Tech, two losses to Wittenberg

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team pulled the curtain closed on the home portion of its schedule with a three-set win against Illinois Institute of Technology and two three-set setbacks to Wittenberg (Ohio) University today inside The Cutler Event Center in Olivet.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Wittenberg def. Olivet 25-22, 25-20, 25-13
Location: The Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Mich.
Records: Wittenberg 12-16 overall, 7-8 MCVL; Olivet 2-18 overall, 0-16 MCVL

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the first set, Olivet had an 8-4 advantage. The Tigers responded with a 5-1 run to even the score at 9-9. After four more tied scores, Wittenberg scored three straight points to go up 16-13. The Comets battled back to level the score at 21-21. The Tigers scored the next point and did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the set.
• Olivet led by two points on several occasions early in the second set. After the last time at 11-9, Wittenberg scored four consecutive points to gain a 13-11 lead. The Comets responded with a 7-3 run to gain the two-point cushion back, 18-16. Three straight points put the Tigers back on top for the remainder of the set.
• Wittenberg scored the first three points of the final set and never looked back.

FOR THE COMETS

• Olivet totaled 30 kills, including 11 for freshman Trent Robinson.
• Senior Luke DeWitt had seven kills to go along with a team-leading five blocks.
• Freshman Brock Pringle led all players with seven digs.
• Freshmen Aaron Giorgi and Mathew Caamal split time at setter, recording 15 and 12 assists, respectively.

FOR THE TIGERS

• Joel Sotos slammed down 14 of the 43 Wittenberg kills.
• Justin Luby was next with nine kills.
• Ross Russell registered a match-best 27 set assists.
• Carter Schmidt had a team-best five digs.

THE BASICS

Final Score: Olivet def. Illinois Tech 25-17, 25-21, 25-15
Location: The Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Mich.
Records: Illinois Tech 6-23 overall, Olivet 3-18 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the opening set, the Comets scored the first three points before seeing their lead grow to as many as seven points on three occasions.
• The teams alternated points at the start of the second set. With the Scarlet Hawks holding a 5-4 lead, Olivet went on a 5-0 run to go up 9-5. Illinois Tech fought back to take the lead back, 12-11. The Comets back with an 8-3 scoring spurt to gain a 19-15 advantage. Olivet never trailed for the rest of the set.
• The only time the Comets trailed in the third was 1-0.

FOR THE COMETS

• Olivet finished the match with 32 kills and only six attack errors on 74 attempts for a .351 hitting percentage.
• DeWitt and Pringle each had eight kills, while Robinson had seven.
• Giorgi posted team-highs in set assists (13) and digs (eight).

FOR THE SCARLET HAWKS

• Illinois Tech recorded 35 kills but had 27 attack errors on 93 attempts for a .086 hitting percentage.
• Lukasz Kupiec led all players with 12 kills, and Michael Drews had 10.
• Andrew Woltman had 17 set assists.
• David Allen registered a team-best eight digs.

THE BASICS

Final Score: Wittenberg def. Olivet 25-17, 25-17, 25-19
Location: The Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Mich.
Records: Wittenberg 13-16 overall, 8-8 MCVL; Olivet 3-19 overall, 0-17 MCVL

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Tigers led 7-5 in the first set before the Comets scored three straight points on two DeWitt kills and Giorgi ace to go up 8-7. Two Comet errors put Wittenberg back on top, 9-8. The Tigers did not give up the lead for the rest of the set.
• With the exception of three tied scores, Wittenberg led for the entire middle set.
• In the third set, Olivet jumped out to a four-point lead, 11-7, forcing the Tigers to call a timeout. Out of the time, Wittenberg put nine of next 10 points on the scoreboard to take its own four-point lead, 16-12. The Comets got no closer than two points for the rest of the set.

FOR THE COMETS

• Robinson had a team-best nine kills.
• In his final home match, DeWitt recorded seven kills to go along with a team-high .312 attack percentage and eight digs.
• Giorgi collected 12 set assists, followed by Caamal with 11.

FOR THE TIGERS

• Dylan Kolovitz finished with 14 kills.
• Sotos joined him in double figures with 11 kills.
• Russell led all players with 25 set assists.
• Libero Troy Boucher had a match-high 11 digs.

UP NEXT

• Olivet travels to play Adrian College next Wednesday, April 5, at 7 p.m.