Men’s volleyball opens 2021 season with losses to Fontbonne

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team opened its 2021 season with a pair of losses to preseason Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League favorite Fontbonne (Mo.) University today at the Cutler Event Center. The Griffins won the first match in straight sets before winning the second match in four sets.

Final Score: Fontbonne def. Olivet 25-16, 25-16, 25-19; Fontbonne def. Olivet 22-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-14
Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
Records: Olivet 0-2 overall, 0-2 MCVL; Fontbonne 2-0 overall, 2-0 MCVL

• Olivet led 5-3 in the opening set. The Griffins responded with a 4-0 run to go ahead 7-5. The Comets battled back and took a pair of one-point leads. Fontbonne came back to take a 14-13 lead before a kill by senior Dan Hayes tied the score. The Griffins closed out the first set with an 11-2 run.
• Olivet scored the first point of the second and third sets. Fontbonne put the next two points on the scoreboard and did not trail for the remainder of either set.

• Hayes and freshman Deontay Thomas finished with five kills apiece.
• Freshman Everett Haynes dished out 16 assists.
• Sophomore Dakota Galeazzi topped the defense with six digs.

• Ryan Lively led all players with 10 kills.
• Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell had 31 set assists.
• Zach Rothstein recorded eight digs.

• In the first set, Olivet built an 8-3 lead and forced Fontbonne to call a timeout. Six of the Comet points during the run were on kills – two each for Thomas and freshman Kai Hartman, and one each for Haynes and freshman Will Mensching. The Griffins closed the gap to three points before two kills by Thomas and an ace by freshman Quinn Dickerson doubled the Olivet to 14-8.
• The Comets led one more time by six points, 16-10. Fontbonne fought back and tied the score at 21-21. Three Olivet points on two kills by Thomas and one by Hartman made the score 24-21. Fontbonne saved one set point before a service error handed the set to the Comets. In the opening set, Olivet slammed down 17 kills while posting a .387 attack percentage.
• The Griffins led by four points early in the second set. The Comets chipped away at their deficit and eventually leveled the score at 11-11. Fontbonne responded with a 3-0 scoring spurt and did not give up its advantage for the remainder of the set.
• For the third set, the Griffins were never behind on the scoreboard. The only time Fontbonne trailed in the fourth and final set was 1-0, as the Griffins went on a 7-0 run after that point.

• Thomas posted a team-best in kills (13) and digs (8).
• Hartman added 12 kills and .294 hitting percentage.
• Haynes tallied 39 assists.

• Lively topped the team with 17 kills, followed by Nate Paasch with 10.
• van Rossum-O'Connell registered 42 assists.
• Rothstein collected 14 digs.

• "I cannot tell you how excited we were just to get matches in today," said Olivet head men's volleyball coach Luke DeWitt. "We have been trying to keep our hopes low about being able to play but I can tell you the guys were really fired up this morning for just having matches.
• "With an almost all freshmen team, it did not hurt to take a set off of the preseason favorite and defending champions of our conference. I am very proud of the performance by our players, and I look forward to the growth of the program from here."

• Olivet travels to Berea, Ohio, next Saturday, January 6, for two MCVL matches against Baldwin Wallace (Ohio) University. First serve from match one at Ursprung Gymnasium is at 10:30 a.m. The BW men's volleyball program is in its first season as a varsity sport.