Men’s volleyball team splits two MCLV matches at Wittenberg

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Olivet College men's volleyball team split two Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) matches to Wittenberg University this afternoon at Pam Evans Smith Arena. The Comets won the first match by scores of 25-18, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23. The Tigers earned the split by winning the second match in three sets, 25-22, 25-14, 25-16.

Final Scores: Olivet 3, Wittenberg 1; Wittenberg 3, Olivet 0
Location: Pam Evans Smith Arena; Springfield, Ohio
Records: Olivet 1-11 overall, 1-11 MCVL; Wittenberg 2-10 overall, 1-10 MCVL

• The Comets scored the first three points of the opening set, and did not trail for the rest of it.
• For the second set, the Tigers did what Olivet did in the first set – score the first three points and never gave up the lead.
• In the third set, Wittenberg led by three points. After the last time at 12-9, the Comets went on a 6-1 run for a 15-13 lead. The Tigers answered with two straight points to even the score. Both teams then had 2-0 runs followed by trading single points to make the score 18-18. Olivet responded by putting six of the next eight points to get to set points, 24-20. Wittenberg saved three set points, forcing the Comets to call a timeout. Out of the break, freshman Quinn Dickerson slammed down a kill for set point.
• The Tigers led 4-1 in the fourth set. Olivet fought back to go ahead by four points on three occasions. The Comets maintained their lead until Wittenberg used a 4-0 spurt to turn a 20-18 deficit into a 22-20 lead. After exchanging points to make the score 23-21, Olivet used four straight kills – three from freshman Kai Hartman and one from senior Dan Hayes – to win the set and match.

• Olivet finished the match with 43 kills.
• Hartman led the way with a match-high 14 kills.
• Freshman Deontay Thomas had 10 kills.
• Hayes tallied nine kills, with only one error, on 12 attempts for a team-leading .667 attack percentage.
• Freshman Everett Haynes dished out 36 set assists.
• Playing libero for the first time this season, freshman Will Mensching collected 19 digs.

• Russ Burke recorded 12 of the 46 Tiger kills.
• Gabriel Lamar was next with 11 kills, followed by Chris Goertz and Dominic Melchiorre with 10 apiece.
• Aidan Hauter had 38 set assists.
• Goertz registered a team-best 14 digs.

• In the first set, Olivet held a four-point lead on three occasions. After the last time at 17-13, the Tigers scored five straight points to take their first lead of the set, 18-17. The Comets leveled the score four times, 18-18, 19-19, 20-20 and 21-21. Wittenberg ended the set on a 4-1 run.
• Olivet had five straight attack errors to open the second set. The Comets could not recover from that deficit.
• The Tigers built a 5-2 lead in the third set. Olivet answered with seven consecutive points for a 9-5 advantage. Wittenberg responded with six of the next seven points to go up 11-10. The teams traded points to create three tied scores. Following a 13-13 deadlock, the Tigers scored 12 of the final 15 points of the set.

• Olivet recorded 26 kills.
• Thomas finished with a team-best eight kills, followed by Hayes with six.
• Haynes tallied 23 set assists.
• Mensching recorded 11 digs.

• Burke and Lamar each had 10 kills.
• Hauter dished out 29 set assists.
• Burke collected 12 digs.

• The Comets host Wabash (Ind.) College next Saturday, March 20, for a pair of MCVL matches. The first match from inside the Cutler Event Center gets started at 1 p.m.