CINCINNATI, Ohio - Over the weekend your Mount St. Joseph University men's volleyball team played hosted to both the Griffins of Fontbonne and the Little Giants of Wabash to begin MCVL conference play. The Lions first hosted the Griffins on Friday night before taking on the Little Giants on Saturday afternoon. On Friday the Lions battled in a 5-set thriller but fell just short to Fontbonne 2-3. On Saturday, the Lions bounced back nicely taking down the Little Giants 3-1.
MOUNT - 2 Â Â Â FONTBONNE - 3
To begin the match each side traded points. The lead shifted back and forth until the Lions took a 14-12 advantage. But, the Griffins fired right back scoring 5 straight points to jump out to a 19-16 lead. The Lions again would answer with a pair of kills from
Jude Lewis and a kills from
Kyle Rees to tie the score at 19. Each side would again trade points before
Kyle Rees gave The Mount a 23-22 lead. A pair of errors from the Griffins have the Lions the advantage taking set 1, 25-22.
In the second set the lead again shifted back and forth. The Griffins took an early 6-3 lead. But, a pair of kills from
Kyle Rees and another kills from
Ben Carmosino evened the score at 8. But, the Griffins gained their advantage leading by 3 points for most of the set. The Lions pulled within 2 late in the set but could not complete the comeback falling in the second set 25-21.
In the third set the Griffins built an early lead. Fontbonne worked quickly jumping out to a 12-5 lead. But, the Lions battled back pulling within 3 with the scoreline at 22-19. Kills from
Ryan Bollhauer,
Jude Lewis and
Kyle Rees pulled the Lions within one at the end of the set. But, Fontbonne scored the final 2 points of the set winning, 26-24.
In the fourth set, the Lions looked re-energized. The Mount traded to begin the set before taking a 10-7 advantage. The Lions continued to build their lead with kills from Bollhauer and
Denzell Brown to give The Mount a 14-9 lead. The Mount continued to put the pressure on as the Griffins fought back. Fontbonne pulled within 2 but could not stop the Lions from forcing a 5th set winning 25-22.Â
In the fifth and final set The Mount worked quickly jumping out to a 3-1 lead. But the Griffins fired back evening the score at 6. The two teams then traded points in a race to win back-to-back points. The Griffins won the race as they took points 12 & 13 before winning the set 15-13. The Lions fell in a heartbreaking loss 2-3.
MOUNT - 3 Â Â Â WABASH - 1
In the Lions second matchup of the weekend they faced off against the Little Giants of Wabash. In the first set the Lions secured an early lead. A pair of kills from Rees helped the Lions hold a 10-5 advantage. But, the Little Giants came rumbling back. Wabash tied the score at 14 halfway through the set as the team began to trade points. Wabash would then get hot going on a 10-1 run to close out the first set as the Lions fell 25-18.
In the second set, the Lions went on a nice run of their own to began play. With the scoreline tied at 6 the Lions took the next 6 points with a pair of kills from both Rees and
Luke Dwire. Wabash would shorten the lead but not for long as the Lions would again score 6 straight points building a 20-11 lead. The Lions didn't look back as they finished the set ahead 25-15
In the third set, the scoreline was much closer as each team shifted leads. But, the Lions would get the run they needed. The Little Giants held a 17-14 advantage before The Mount scored 5 straight points with kills from Dwire and Rees to give them a 19-17 lead. But, the Little Giants answered right back tying the score at 23. Each team again traded points before the Lions would secure 3 consecutive points to put the set away. The Lions held a 27-26 lead before
Ryan Bollhauer would hammer the Lions final point winning set three 28-26.Â
In the fourth set, The Lions got ahead early building a 5-1 lead. But, Wabash would answer fighting back to a 9-6 lead. The Lions slowly regained control of the match tying the score at 17. But again, Wabash would go on a run taking a 21-17 lead. With just 2 points shy of a 4th set win for Wabash the Lions would surge once again. The Lions tied the scoreline at 23. The Lions finished the set on a 7-1 run to take the win with a kill from
Ben Carmosino to seal the deal.
Over both games
Kyle Rees stood out for the Lions. Rees finished the weekend with 34 kills while hitting .322. Bollhauer was also impressive adding 18 kills while hitting .213.
Luke Dwire was also dominant over the weekend finishing with 15 kills while hitting .312.
UP NEXT: Your Mount St. Joseph University Lions are back in action next Friday, March 17th as the Lions travel to Berea, Ohio to take on the Yellow Jackets of Baldwin Wallace. The match is scheduled to begin at 7PM.
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