Men’s volleyball team posts 2-1 record at day one of Judson Eagles Classic

ELGIN, Ill. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team posted a 2-1 record at day one of the 2023 Judson (Ill.) University Eagles Classic inside the Lindner Fitness Center. The Comets started the day with a three-set sweep over Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) University. Olivet then fell to Judson in three sets and bounced back to win a five-set thriller over Roosevelt (Ill.) University.

• Final Score: Olivet defeated Maranatha Baptist 25-10, 25-7, 27-25
• Location: Lindner Fitness Center; Elgin, Illinois
• Records: Olivet 3-3 overall, Maranatha Baptist 0-8 overall

• The Comets never trailed in the first and second sets, as they had a 20 to 4 advantage in kills over the two sets.
• The Sabercats built a five-point lead, 9-4, in the third set. Olivet scored six straight points before a 6-2 Maranatha run made the score 15-12. The Sabercats led by three points two more times at 17-14 and 19-16. Maranatha kept the advantage until the Comets went ahead 24-22. The Sabercats fought off two set points and got to set point themselves at 25-24. Three straight kills ended the set and match in Olivet's favor.

• For the game, Olivet finished the match with 34 kills to 11 for Maranatha. The Comets posted a .275 attack percentage, while the Sabercats hit at a -.088. Olivet tallied 13 aces, the third-most in school history for a match.
• Sophomores Quinn Dickerson and Ethan Valente each had eight kills.
• Junior Everett Haynes dished out 25 set assists, while recording eight aces.
• Senior Dakota Galeazzi had eight digs to go along with a team-high four service aces.

• Daniel Says notched a team-best five kills, followed by Drew Smith with three.
• Zach Mueller registered nine set assists.
• Smith led Maranatha with five digs.

• Final Score: Judson defeated Olivet 25-16, 25-11, 25-15
• Location: Lindner Fitness Center; Elgin, Illinois
• Records: Olivet 3-4 overall, Judson 5-1 overall

• The Eagles and Comets traded the first six points to create three tied scores. Holding a 6-5 lead, Judson went on a 7-0 run to push its lead to eight points, 13-5. Olivet was not able to bounce back from the deficit, as the Eagles won the set 25-16.
• The second set was like the first. With the score even at 5-5, the Eagles scored nine straight points to take control of the set. Judson held onto the lead for the rest of the set.
• The only time the Eagles trailed in the third set was at 1-0.

• Olivet totaled 25 kills.
• Dickerson and junior Kai Hartman tallied seven kills apiece.
• Valente finished with six kills.
• Haynes had 24 set assists.
• Hartman collected a team-best nine digs.

• Brendan Gibbons and Trevor Kozlowski each slammed down nine kills.
• Kozlowski posted a .615 hitting percentage.
• Elijah Wrobel dished out 30 set assists.
• Jackson Otto had a match-high 12 digs.

• Final Score: Olivet defeated Roosevelt 25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-10
• Location: Lindner Fitness Center; Elgin, Illinois
• Records: Olivet 4-4 overall, Roosevelt 2-5 overall

• In the first set, Olivet built a four-point lead, 10-6. The Lakers rattled off seven straight points to go up 13-10 and eventually pushed their advantage to six points, 19-13. The Comets fought back with a 9-1 run to take a 22-20 lead. Olivet scored three of the final four points to win the set 25-21.
• Roosevelt surged ahead 4-1 in the second set. Three consecutive Laker errors – a service errors and two bad sets – evened the score. Roosevelt scored the next three points before extending its lead to as many as eight points, 19-11. The Lakers won the set 25-18.
• Down 6-4 in the third set, Olivet used a 6-1 run to take a 10-7 lead. Roosevelt responded with a 7-4 spurt to tie the score. The teams traded 2-0 runs to create another tied score at 16-16. Two Comet kills and a Laker error made the score 19-16. Roosevelt fought back and leveled the score at 23-23. Two Laker miscues handed the set to Olivet.
• Early in the fourth set, neither team led by more than two points. With the Comets holding a 15-13 advantage, Roosevelt went on a 5-0 run to take the largest lead for either team at 18-15. Olivet cut its deficit down to a single point on three occasions. After the final time at 22-21, the Lakers closed the set on a 3-1 run to win it 25-22.
• The Comets raced out to a 10-3 lead in the fifth set. Roosevelt chipped away at its deficit to trail by three points, 13-10. A service error followed by an ace gave the set and match to Olivet.

• Three players reached double figures in kills, led by Dickerson and Hartman with 13 apiece.
• Valente was next with 11 kills.
• Haynes recorded 43 set assists, which ranks third for a five-set match in school history. He also surpassed the 1,000 career assist plateau in the match.
• Galeazzi topped the team with 18 digs to break the five-set match school record. The previous record was 16 by Zach Pringle at Fontbonne (Mo.) University on March 18, 2017. 
• Hartman broke Olivet's five-set match record with 47 attack attempts. The 47 is fifth-most regardless of the number of sets played. The previous five-set record was 44 by Karl Diechmann against Greenville (Ill.) University on January 26, 2018.

• Conrad Para tallied 15 kills.
• Daniel Mahoney and Shawn McCarthy had 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
• Tony Galena dished out 37 set assists.
• McCarthy led Roosevelt with 16 digs.

• The Comets wrap-up play tomorrow at the Eagles Classic with a match against Cornerstone University. First serve is 10 a.m. CT.