Men’s volleyball team downed by Cornerstone in three close sets

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team was swept by Cornerstone University in three close sets tonight at Mol Arena.

Final Score: Cornerstone def. Olivet 25-22, 25-20, 29-27
Location: Mol Arena; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Records: Cornerstone 6-9 overall, Olivet 4-7 overall

• The Comets took advantage of four Cornerstone errors to build a 6-2 lead in the first set. The Golden Eagles responded with a 5-1 run to level the score. The teams traded points to create another tied score at 8-8. From there, Cornerstone went on a 6-1 spurt to go up 14-9 to force an Olivet timeout. The Golden Eagles stretched their advantage to nine points, 22-13. Olivet fought back to close the gap to two points, 24-22, before a Comet service error ended the set in favor of Cornerstone.
• Olivet had a slim 2-0 lead in the second set. The Golden Eagles responded with five straight points to go up 5-2. Cornerstone extended their lead to six points, 13-7, before five straight Comet points made the score 13-12. Olivet did not get any closer for the remainder of the set.
• Early in the third set, the Golden Eagles led by three points, 6-3. The Comets rallied back to even the score at 8-8. Neither team led by more than three points until Olivet used a 3-0 run to seize a five-point cushion at 21-16. Cornerstone chipped away at its deficit and eventually tied the score at 24-24. After exchanging points to create three more tied scores at 25-25, 26-26 and 27-27, two Comet attack errors gave the set and match to the Golden Eagles.

• Sophomore Kai Hartman topped Olivet with nine kills, followed by sophomore Deontay Thomas with eight kills.
• Sophomore Everett Haynes recorded 25 set assists.
• Junior Dakota Galeazzi finished with a match-best 15 digs.

• David Galanes pounded down 19 kills and hit at a .343 clip.
• Brunno Peres tallied 14 kills, with a .524 attack percentage.
• Patrick Voloch dished out 39 set assists.
• Alex Hekman collected nine digs.

• The Comets open Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League play Saturday in Ohio with two matches and at two different schools. Olivet play University of Mount Union (Ohio) at 1 p.m., and then makes the 60-mile trip northwest to play Baldwin Wallace (Ohio) University at 7:30 p.m.