Men’s volleyball team loses five-set thriller at Adrian

ADRIAN, Mich. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team lost a five-set match to Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) rival Adrian College tonight at the Merillat Sport & Fitness Center in Adrian. The Bulldogs won the first set 25-23 before the Comets won the next two 25-17 and 25-13. After posting a 25-23 come-from-behind win in the fourth set, Adrian won the fifth set 15-7.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Adrian def. Olivet 25-23, 17-25, 13-25, 25-23, 15-7
Location: Merillat Sport & Fitness Center; Adrian, Mich.
Records: Adrian 4-19 overall, 3-14 MCVL; Olivet 3-20 overall, 0-18 MCVL

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the first set, Adrian scored the first two points. Olivet battled back and took its first lead of the set at 8-7. The Bulldogs responded by putting six of the next nine points on the scoreboard to go up by three, 13-10. The Comets answered with a 3-1 run to close the gap to one, 14-13. After Adrian pushed its lead to four points, 19-15, Olivet used a 6-1 scoring spurt to take the lead back, 21-20. The Bulldogs scored three consecutive points to re-gain the lead 23-21. Following the Comets evening the score at 23-23, Adrian had two straight points to win the set.  
• In the second set, the Bulldogs used a 4-0 run to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead. Olivet fought back to level the score at 12-12. After two more tied scores at 13-13 and 14-14, the Comets used their own 4-0 run to go up 18-14. Olivet eventually led by as many as eight points, 24-16, before the teams alternated points to end the set.
• In the third set, the Comets raced out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back. Olivet's largest lead of the set was the 12-point victory margin. In the set, the Comets had 15 kills and did not make an error on 24 attempts for a .625 hitting percentage.
• Behind the service of freshman setter Aaron Giorgi, Olivet jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the fourth set. The Comets extended their lead to as many as eight points, 19-11. Adrian came back with a 9-0 run to take a 20-19 lead. Following four tied scores (20-20, 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23), the Bulldogs scored the last two points of the set to force a fifth set.
• The fifth set started with both teams going on 2-0 scoring runs. After a 2-2 deadlock, Adrian put four straight points on the scoreboard for a 6-2 advantage. Olivet was never able to recover from the deficit.

FOR THE COMETS

• For the match, Olivet had 59 kills with 21 errors on 125 attempts for a .304 attack percentage.
• Freshman Trent Robinson slammed down a match-high 20 kills, with only three errors on 33 swings for a .515 hitting percentage. He also served a team-best three aces.
• Freshman Brock Pringle was next with 17 kills to go along with a team-best nine digs.
• Freshman Mathew Caamal and Giorgi rotated duties at setter, finishing with 27 and 24 assists, respectively.
• Robinson and senior Luke DeWitt both had one solo block and three assisted blocks.

FOR THE BULLDOGS

• Kevin Curley had 17 of Adrian's 48 kills.
• Noah Marcinkowski recorded 16 kills and team-leading .433 attack percentage.
• Joseph Campana dished out a match-high 35 set assists.
• Daniel Contreras registered a team-best nine digs.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Robinson's 20 kills broke the single-match school record. The .515 attack percentage is the second-best mark for a match.
• The 59 kills for Olivet is a single-match record and the .304 attack percentage is second-best. The 53 set assists ties the single-match record.

UP NEXT

• Olivet closes out the 2017 season Saturday when it travels to play Loras (Iowa) College at 3 p.m. CST.