Men’s volleyball team wins five-set thriller over Mount St. Joseph

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team defeated Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) foe Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) University in a thrilling five-set match tonight inside the Cutler Event Center. The Comets won the first (25-20) and third (29-27) sets, while the Lions won the second (25-23) and fourth (25-20) sets. Olivet earned the win in the deciding set, 15-10.

• Final Score: Olivet defeated Mount St. Joseph 25-20, 23-25, 29-27, 20-25, 15-10
• Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 8-11 overall, 1-3 MCVL; Mount St. Joseph 8-10 overall, 1-4 MCVL

• Early in the first set, Olivet held a 6-3 lead. Mount St. Joseph closed the gap to one point 7-6 before the Comets went ahead by five points, 15-10. The Lions answered with an 8-3 run to level the score. The teams traded points for another tied score at 19-19. Olivet then scored six of the final seven points to win the set 25-20.
• In the second set, Mount St. Joseph used a 4-0 spurt to turn two-point deficit into a two-point lead, 8-6. Olivet countered with three straight points to go up 9-8. After three more tied scores, including 14-14, the Lions went ahead by three points, 17-14. The Comets fought back to even the score at 18-18 and 19-19. Mount St. Joseph scored the next three points and did not trail for the rest of the set.
• The Comets raced out to an 8-2 lead in the third set. Olivet led 24-21 before the Lions went on a 4-0 run to get to set point themselves. A bad set by Mount St. Joseph tied the score, followed by a Comet kill made the score 26-25. Two Olivet attack errors put the Lions back on top, 27-26. Olivet answered with a kill and then two Mount St. Joseph attack errors handed the set, 29-27, to the Comets.
• In the fourth set, the Lions built 10-2 lead and never looked back.
• Mount St. Joseph and Olivet exchanged the first six points of the fifth set to cause three tied scores. The Comets scored the next two points before the Lions scored three straight points to go up 6-5. Olivet answered with a 2-0 run to regain the lead. Mount St. Joseph leveled the score at 7-7 before an attack error put the Comets ahead 8-7. The Lions then got a kill and Olivet attack error to take the lead back 9-8. A kill, followed by a Mount St. Joseph attack error and two service aces put the Comets ahead by three points, 12-9. The Lions stopped the run with a kill. Two Olivet kills and a Mount St. Joseph attack error handed the set (15-10) and match (3-2) to the Comets.

• Olivet finished the match with 58 kills and posted a .165 attack percentage. The Comets served 12 aces compared to five for Mount St. Joseph.
• Sophomore Quinn Dickerson and junior Deontay Thomas shared team-high honors with 13 kills apiece.
• Junior Kai Hartman contributed 12 kills, while sophomore Ethan Valente had 10 kills.
• Junior Everett Haynes tallied a team-best 17 digs and 43 set assists.
• Valente and junior Will Mensching had three service aces apiece.
• Hartman and senior Dakota Galeazzi also reached double digits in digs with 10 and 12, respectively.

• Olivet's 165 attack attempts broke the single-match school record, regardless of sets played.
• The 12 service aces are the most in a five-set match in school history.
• Haynes' 43 set assists helped him break the single-season school record. He now has 518 in 2023, and the record was 502 by Aaron Giorgi in 2018.
• Mensching's three aces helped him break the single-season record. He now has 24 in 2023, and the record was 22 by Rhett Pringle in 2018.
• Dickerson had one solo block to move into a tie for first in the single-season ledger with 21.

• Kyle Rees led all players with 14 kills.
• Jude Lewis and Ryan Bollhauer tallied 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
• Ben Carmosino registered 45 set assists.
• Logan Essen collected 16 digs.

• The Comets welcome Wittenberg (Ohio) University to the Cutler Event Center tomorrow for a MCVL match, starting at 1 p.m. Prior to the match, Olivet will recognize senior Dakota Galeazzi who will play in his final home match.