Men’s volleyball team splits two matches at Adrian Quad

ADRIAN, Mich. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team split its first two matches this afternoon at the Adrian College Quad at the Merillat Sports & Fitness Center. After losing to Marian (Wis.) University in three sets, the Comets bounced back to sweep Millikin (Ill.) University in three sets. Olivet finishes action at the Adrian Quad tomorrow afternoon against the host Bulldogs, starting at 3 p.m.

Final Score: Marian def. Olivet 25-14, 25-21, 25-16
Location: Merillat Sports & Fitness Center; Adrian, Michigan
Records: Olivet 0-2 overall, Marian 3-0 overall

• Marian never trailed in any of the three sets.

• Sophomore Deontay Thomas led all players with 15 kills and posted a .265 hitting percentage.
• Sophomore Kai Hartman was next with six kills, followed by freshman Ethan Valente with five.
• Sophomore Everett Haynes recorded a team-leading 24 set assists and nine digs.

• Derek Wills tallied a team-leading 12 kills.
• Zach Zelenik dished out 26 set assists.
• Zelenik and Aaron Velasco each had eight digs.

Final Score: Olivet def. Millikin 25-18, 25-19, 25-19
Location: Merillat Sports & Fitness Center; Adrian, Michigan
Records: Olivet 1-2 overall, Millikin 0-2 overall

• Millikin led 3-1 in the first set. Olivet scored six straight points to go up 7-3. The Comets did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the set.
• The Big Blue built an 8-6 lead in the second set. Olivet used a 7-0 spurt to go up 13-8 and maintained the advantage for the remainder of the set.
• The Comets had a pair of four-point leads early in the third set. After the last time at 9-5, Millikin used a 5-0 run to take a one-point lead. Olivet then went ahead by a point, 12-11, before another 5-0 Big Blue run gave them a 16-12 lead. The Comets closed the gap to two points, 16-14.
• Another Millikin point pushed its lead back to three points. Olivet put eight consecutive points on the scoreboard to take control of the set, 22-17. The Comets scored three of the final five points to win the set and match.

• For the match, Olivet posted a .286 attack percentage (41 kills, with 11 errors on 105 attempts) compared to .120 (28 kills, with 17 errors on 92 attempts) for Millikin.
• Thomas slammed down a match-high 15 kills.
• Hartman also reached double digits with 12 kills.
• Valente registered eight kills and .636 hitting percentage.
• Haynes collected 32 set assists.
• Valente and Haynes tallied nine and eight digs, respectively.

• Kyle Clendenen led Millikin with seven kills and 11 digs.
• Robbie Maida recorded 23 set assists.

• Following tomorrow's match, Olivet is off until Friday, February 4, when it hosts Concordia University Chicago at 7 p.m.