Men’s volleyball team sweeps Concordia Triangular

MEQOUN, Wis. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team opened its season by winning two matches at the Concordia (Wis.) University Triangular and inside the R. John Buuck Field House in Mequon, Wisconsin. The Comets swept both Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) University and the host Falcons in three sets. Against Concordia, sophomore Aaron Giorgi broke the single-match team record with five aces, helping Olivet break the team single-match record with 15.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Olivet def. Maranatha Baptist 26-24, 25-12, 25-20
Location: R. John Buuck Field House; Mequon, Wis.
Records: Olivet 1-0 overall, Maranatha Baptist 1-1 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the first set, the Comets led by three points, 9-6. The Sabrecats battled back to level the score at 11-11 before taking a 16-14 lead. Olivet came back to tie the set on three occasions. After the last time at 19-19, the Comets put the next two points on the scoreboard to go up 21-19. Maranatha Baptist came back to forge a 24-24 tie. Olivet ended the set with two straight points on a kill by sophomore Brock Pringle and solo block by senior Rhett Pringle.
• The Comets led the second set from start-to-finish. Olivet's largest lead in the set was the 13-point margin at the end of the set, 25-12. In the set, the Comets posted a .524 hitting percentage, with 12 kills and only one error on 21 attacks.
• The teams traded the first six points of the third set, resulting in a 3-3 deadlock. Olivet scored the next three points and never looked back in the set, winning it by a 25-20 score.

FOR THE COMETS

• As a team, Olivet posted a .329 attack percentage. The Comets recorded 41 kills, with only 13 errors on 85 attempts.
• Olivet had a balanced front row attack, with freshman Karl Deichmann leading the way with 11 kills.
• Sophomore Trent Robinson slammed down nine kills, while registering a .667 hitting percentage. He had only one error in 12 atttempts.
• Brock Pringle also had nine kills, while Rhett Pringle finished with seven kills.
• Sophomore Logan Blough recorded five kills, two service aces, five digs and two assisted blocks.
• Giorgi dished out 34 set assists.
• Freshman Tanner Gardenour collected a team-leading seven digs.

FOR THE SABRECATS

• Derek Wallis had a match-high 12 kills.
• Taylor Dafoe was next with six kills.
• Matt Wetzel recorded 13 set assists.
• Joel Depue notched 11 digs.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Olivet def. Concordia 25-22, 25-17, 25-17
Location: R. John Buuck Field House; Mequon, Wis.
Records: Olivet 2-0 overall, Concordia 0-4 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Comets led the first set by five points, 12-7. The Falcons came back with a 10-3 run to take a 17-15 lead. Olivet responded with a 5-1 run to go back on top, 20-18. Concordia scored two straight points to tie the set before the Comets scored five of the final seven points of the set to win it 25-22.  
• In the second set, Olivet scored the first three points and never looked back for a 25-17 win.
• With the score knotted at 3-3 in the third set, Olivet went on a 4-0 run to take a 7-3 advantage. The Comets did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the set.

FOR THE COMETS

• Olivet finished the match with 33 kills compared to only 12 for the Falcons. The Comets also had a higher attack percentage, .229 to .018. Olivet also served up 15 aces.
• Deichmann and Brock Pringle each had 10 kills. Pringle had a better hitting percentage at .421 with only two errors on 19 attacks.
• Robinson recorded six kills, with only one error, on nine swings for a .556 attack percentage.
• Giorgi posted match-highs in set assists (28) and service aces (five).
• Gardenour notched a match-high nine digs.

FOR THE FALCONS

• Sam Rovik had a team-best four kills and seven digs.
• Isaac Glynn registered nine set assists.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORES

• Tonight's matches were the start of the third season as a varsity sport for the Comet men's volleyball program. Concordia and Maranatha Baptist are both in their first season as a varsity sport.
• Olivet's .329 attack percentage against Maranatha Baptist is the second-best in school history for a match.
• Giorgi's 34 set assists vs. Maranatha is the fourth-most in school history for a match.
• Giorgi's five aces against Concordia broke the school record for most in a match. The previous record was four on two occasions, last by Luke DeWitt and Andrew McCormick against Brooklyn (N.Y.) College on Jan. 20, 2017.
• The team's 15 aces against Concordia broke the team single-match record. That record was 14 against Brooklyn.

UP NEXT

• Olivet hosts Greenville (Ill.) University in its home-opener next Friday night at 7 p.m.