Men’s volleyball team drops season-opening matches at Michigan Volleyball Invitational

ADRIAN, Mich. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team lost both matches of its season-opening matches today at the Michigan College Volleyball Invitational, hosted by Adrian College and inside the Merillat Center in Adrian. The Comets fell to Aquinas College in four sets and Siena Heights University in three sets.

Final Score: Aquinas def. Olivet 25-17, 25-16, 22-25, 25-14
Location: Merillat Center; Adrian, Mich.
Records: Olivet 0-1 overall, Aquinas 1-0 overall

• In the first set, Aquinas led 7-3 before Olivet went on a 5-1 run to level the score. The Saints scored the next two points and did relinquish their lead for the remainder of the set.
• Aquinas led the second set from start-to-finish.
• In the third set, the Comets put the first two points on the scoreboard. The Saints countered with the next three points before another 2-0 Olivet run made the score 4-3. Aquinas had a 3-1 spurt to take the lead back 6-5. The teams traded points to create three more tied scores. After the final time at 8-8, the Comets used a 7-2 run to gain their largest lead 15-10. Olivet maintained its advantage for the rest of the set despite the Saints cutting their down to as few as two points.
• Aquinas opened the fourth set on a 3-0 run. The Comets trimmed the deficit to one point, 4-3, but they would not get closer for the rest of the set.

• For the match, Olivet posted a .222 attack percentage.
• Junior Trent Robinson slammed down a team-best 14 kills and recorded a .423 hitting percentage.
• Junior Brock Pringle was next with 13 kills.
• Junior Deivan Prince had seven kills.
• Junior Aaron Giorgi dished out 35 set assists.
• Giorgi and Pringle shared team-high honors with six digs apiece.

• Aquinas hit at a .309 clip.
• Joshua Boothroyd led all players with 16 kills and nine digs.
• Zane Moothart was next with 15 kills, and had zero attack errors on 22 attempts for a .682 attack percentage.
• Colby Elder recorded 42 set assists.

Final Score: Siena Heights def. Olivet 25-18, 25-20, 25-16
Location: Merillat Center; Adrian, Mich.
Records: Olivet 0-2 overall, Siena Heights 2-0 overall

• In the first set, the Saints used a 5-0 run to turn a 3-3 tie into an 8-3 lead. The Comets battled back to close the gap to a single point, 9-8. Olivet did not draw any closer for the rest of the set.
• Early in the second set, the Comets led by two points, 6-4. Siena Heights fought back to level the score four times before Olivet tied the set at 10-10. The Saints put six of the next seven points on the scoreboard for a 16-11 lead. The Comets were only to cut the margin down to two points on four occasions.
• At the start of the third set, neither team led by more than two points. With the score knotted at 15-15, the Saints ended the set on a 10-1 run.

• Robinson topped Olivet with 10 kills.
• Prince contributed eight kills.
• Giorgi tallied 23 set assists.
• Pringle notched a team-high 11 digs.

• Bryce Johnson and Evan Cashen finished with 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
• Keegan Crawford recorded 34 set assists.
• Emilier De Jesus had a team-high 11 digs.

• Today's matches marked the start of Kyle Radde era as the Comets' head coach.
• Both opponents, Aquinas and Siena Heights, are members of the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference and are NAIA-scholarship schools.

• Olivet stays in Adrian tonight to play the host Bulldogs and Lawrence Technological University tomorrow at the Michigan College Volleyball Invitational. The match against Adrian gets under way at 9 a.m., followed by the match against Lawrence Tech.