Men’s Volleyball: Olivet splits four-set matches against Hiram and St. Norbert

OLIVET, Mich. – The University of Olivet men's volleyball team split two non-conference matches tonight inside the Cutler Event Center. After the Comets fell to Hiram (Ohio) College in four sets, they rebounded to beat St. Norbert (Wis.) College in four sets. Against St. Norbert, senior Quinn Dickerson shattered the single-match school record with 31 points, while tying the record with 26 kills and five service aces.

• Final Score: Hiram defeated Olivet 24-26, 25-12, 25-20, 25-23
• Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 4-18 overall, Hiram 11-9 overall

• In the first set, the Terriers built a 7-4 lead. Olivet responded with a 5-0 spurt to go up 9-7. The Comets held onto the lead until Hiram used a 4-0 spree to turn a 11-9 deficit into a 13-11 lead. Neith team led by more than two points for the rest of the set. With the score knotted at 24-24, Dickerson slammed down a kill to get to set point and then Olivet scored the winning point off a bad set by the Terriers.
• Hiram raced out to an 8-1 lead in the second set. The Comets were not able to recover from the deficit, as the Terriers went on to win the set, 25-12.
• The Terriers led by five points, 10-5, at the start of the third set. Olivet answered with four straight points to trim its deficit down to a single point. Hiram responded with eight consecutive points to stretch its lead to nine points, 18-9. The Comets were only able to close the gap to four points.
• Like the third set, the Terriers doubled up Olivet, 8-4, in the early stages of the fourth set. Down 10-7, the Comets took advantage of four straight Hiram attack errors to go up 11-10. Three of the four errors were the result of Olivet blocks at the net. Following a timeout, the Terriers had their own 4-0 run to take the lead back, 14-11. The teams traded points before two Dickerson kills and two aces by junior Thayne Bilicki handed the advantage back to Olivet, 16-15. After Hiram evened the score, another 4-0 Comet spurt put them ahead 20-16. Olivet held onto the lead at 23-20 before the Terriers ended the set by scoring the final five points on four kills and an ace.

• Olivet ended the match with 33 kills, including 13 for Dickerson.
• Senior Everett Haynes tallied 11 kills and a team-leading 13 digs.
• Senior Kai Hartman recorded 30 set assists.
• Senior Deontay Thomas finished with nine digs.

• Final Score: Olivet defeated St. Norbert 25-21, 25-16, 23-25, 25-20
• Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 5-18 overall, St. Norbert 8-11 overall

• The Comets scored the first six points of the opening set. Four of the points were two kills and the other two were aces by Thomas. Olivet did not surrender the lead for the rest of the set, which it had 16 kills and hit at a .220 clip compared to eight kills and .141 for the Green Knights.
• St. Norbert jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the second set. The Comets quickly answered with a 5-0 run. The score stayed close in the middle part of the set. Still holding a 19-16 lead, Olivet scored the final six points of the set. For the set, the Comets recorded 13 kills to five for the Green Knights.
• The third set saw the Green Knights lead by five points, 10-5. Olivet chipped away at its deficit and eventually evened the score at 15-15. The teams exchanged scoring spurts to cause a couple of tied scores and lead changes.  St. Norbert led 22-20 before back-to-back-to-back Dickerson kills put the Comets ahead 23-22. The Green Knights answered with the last three points to win the set, 25-23.
• In the fourth set, neither team held a significant lead until Olivet seized a four-point cushion, 20-16. St. Norbert was able to trim its deficit in half, 22-20. A kill for Haynes followed by back-to-back Dickerson aces gave the set and match to the Comets.

• For the match, Olivet tied for the seventh-most kills in a match with 58 and ninth-best attack percentage at .273. The Comets' 10 service aces also tied for the seventh-most in a match.
• Dickerson led the team with 26 kills and five aces for 31 points.
• Joining him in double digit kills were Thomas with 13 and Haynes with 10.
• Hartman dished out 42 assists.
• Senior Will Mensching led all players with 15 digs, followed by Haynes with 14.

• Olivet resumes Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League play next Saturday, March 16, when it hosts Adrian College, starting at 4 p.m.