The #9 Aquinas men's volleyball team had its hands full on Wednesday night (Jan. 22) in Adrian, Mich., as the Saints opened up WHAC play with a hard-fought 3-2 victory at Siena Heights. SHU won the first two sets by identical 25-23 scores, but the visiting Saints rallied to take a pair of close sets in the third and fourth frames before winning the match 15-11 in the fifth set.

The final set scores read 23-25, 25-25, 25-23, 25-21, and 15-11 in AQ's favor in a match that was about as close as possibly could be, with all five sets decided by less than four points and the first three frames decided by the minimum two points. It was the WHAC opener for both teams on Wednesday.

Aquinas improves to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while Siena Heights drops to 3-6 on the season and 0-1 in league action. The teams met on Jan. 12 in Grand Rapids, with AQ sweeping the visiting Saints by a 3-0 score to conclude the Michigan Men's Volleyball Invitational, but Wednesday's match was much more competitive between the schools.

Siena Heights stayed close in the match despite AQ's massive 74-46 advantage in kills, 71-43 edge in assists, and 79-62 cushion in digs. Aquinas hit .228 in the match, nearly doubling SHU's .116 percentage. The home Saints did have a 10-6 edge in blocks and a 7-3 lead in service aces.

Zane Moothart and Joshua Boothroyd each reached the 20-kill plateau, as Moothart provided 22 kills, nine digs, and hit. 348 in the win. Boothroyd posted 20 kills, nine digs, two solo blocks, and a pair of aces. Will Donald added 16 kills on a .394 hitting percentage, along with five digs and three block assists.

Ruben Lopez put away 12 kills to go with 16 digs for a double-double, while Josh Evers led all players with a career-high 27 digs. His previous best was 19 digs only 10 days ago against the same Siena Heights team. Colby Elder handed out a career-high 68 assists, surpassing his previous high of 56 assists in the program's second-ever match on Jan. 11, 2019 at Adrian. Robert Valerio added four kills and two digs.

The first set was tied late at 23-23 before SHU used back-to-back kills to jump in front in the match with the 25-23 win. Siena Heights led set two 24-19 before kills from Donald and Moothart and a combined block from Donald and Daniel Soliz helped AQ make it a 24-23 score. However, the home Saints repeated with a 25-23 win after an Aquinas hitting error.

Just five days after playing a five-set match at #8 Saint Xavier, AQ figured out how to respond on Wednesday and scored the final two points of set three on kills from Moothart and Boothroyd for the 25-23 victory. It was 18-16 in set four before Aquinas used a 5-2 run and began to pull away, winning 25-21 to force the fifth set.

Siena Heights led 6-5 before AQ scored four straight points to take a 9-6 lead. Moothart started the 4-0 run with a kill and Donald teamed with Elder for a big block and the three-point edge. SHU pulled within a point twice – including at 11-10 – but Moothart posted consecutive kills and Valerio nabbed a solo rejection for the 14-10 advantage. Boothroyd's 20th and final kill ended the match in a wild five-set win.

The Saints return to their home floor on Saturday (Jan. 25) for a 1:00 p.m. WHAC match with visiting Goshen.