Men’s volleyball team splits two matches at Misericordia Triangular

DALLAS, Pa. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team split two non-conference matches today at the Misericordia (Pa.) University Triangular inside the Anderson Arena. The Comets dropped a four-set match to the host Cougars before bouncing back to defeat Wilkes (Pa.) University in four sets.

• Final Score: Misericordia defeated Olivet 16-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-16
• Location: Anderson Arena; Dallas, Pennsylvania
• Records: Olivet 6-10 overall, Misericordia 11-19 overall

• In the first set, the Comets led by eight points at 15-7. The Cougars closed the gap to six points 22-16 before a service error, kill and attack error handed the set to Olivet.
• In the second set, Misericordia used a 4-0 run to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead. The Cougars did not give up the lead for the rest of the set.
• Misericordia had wire-to-wire leads in the third and fourth sets.

• Olivet tallied 30 kills.
• Sophomore Quinn Dickerson finished with a team-best nine kills, followed by sophomore Ethan Valente with eight.
• Junior Everett Haynes recorded 20 set assists.
• Junior Deontay Thomas shared match-high honors with 12 digs, while Haynes had 10 digs.

• Zane Martin and Jackson Fehnel had 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Martin posted a .706 attack percentage.
• Gannon DeFrain registered 18 set assists, followed by Kyle Ganoe with 15.
• Connor Spencer tallied 12 digs.

• Final Score: Olivet defeated Wilkes 18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-22
• Location: Anderson Arena; Dallas, Pennsylvania
• Records: Olivet 7-10 overall, Wilkes 14-7 overall

• Down 8-6 in the first set, the Colonels scored five straight points to go ahead 11-8. The Comets cut their deficit to two twice but would not get any closer.
• After a 9-9 tie in the second set, five straight kills – three by Thomas and two by Valente – put Olivet ahead 14-9. The Comets did not surrender their advantage for the rest of the set.
• Olivet raced out to a 3-0 lead in the third set and never looked back.
• Wilkes led by four points, 9-5, early in the fourth set. A 6-0 Comet run made the score 11-9. The Colonels closed the gap to a single point on six occasions. After the last time at 17-16, Olivet scored the next two points and stayed ahead by at least two points for the rest of the set.

• Olivet slammed down 51 kills.
• Thomas led the way with a game-high 16 kills and 12 digs. He posted a .286 attack percentage.
• Valente and junior Kai Hartman had 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
• Dickerson tallied six kills and five blocks (two solo and three assisted).
• Haynes recorded 41 set assists.

• Noah Taylor finished with a team-best 12 kills and 12 digs.
• Zach Shay registered 34 set assists.

• The Comets resume their Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League schedule Monday when they travel to Angola, Indiana, to play Trine (Ind.) University at 7 p.m.