On the opening day of the Molten Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa, the Aquinas men's volleyball team was on both ends of 3-0 final results. The #9 Saints opened the two-day, three-match tournament on Friday (Jan. 31) with a 3-0 sweep over Culver-Stockton (Mo.) before dropping a closely-contested 3-0 final to #1 Grand View in a top-10 evening matchup.
 
AQ made quick work of the Wildcats in the opener on Friday afternoon, sweeping Culver-Stockton (0-6) in straight sets by scores of 25-15, 25-7, and 25-19. Despite being swept in the night's showdown with #1 Grand View (6-1) by scores of 25-18, 25-23, and 25-20. The split on Friday puts Aquinas at 6-2 on the year. 
 
The Saints hit an incredible .436 offensively in the victory over Culver-Stockton, posting 45 kills and only 11 errors. Comparatively, the Wildcats recorded only 18 kills and hit just .041 in a dominant effort by Aquinas. The Saints doubled up Culver-Stockton in digs (36-18) and more than doubled up in assists (38-16). Both teams posted three aces and the Wildcats held a 4-3 edge in blocks.
 
Joshua Boothroyd put away a match-high 13 kills, while Zane Moothart added a double-double of 11 digs and 10 kills, while hitting .444. Ruben Lopez totaled seven kills in just 12 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage and Will Donald hit .667 with six kills in just nine swings.
 
Colby Elder – the NAIA National Setter of the Week – provided 32 assists, six digs, and three kills. Josh Evers tied Moothart with a match-best 11 digs, while Robert Valerio added three kills in five attempts. 
 
In the nightcap, Grand View used a strong offensive effort of 43 kills and a .305 hitting percentage, while limiting AQ's efficiency to 28 kills and a .182 attack clip. The Vikings led Aquinas in the other statistical categories, including assists (39-25), digs (29-21), blocks (8-6) and aces (5-0).
 
Boothroyd again led AQ offensively with 10 kills, while Donald was very effective with eight kills in 11 swings for a .727 attack mark. Donald added four block assists. Moothart posted five kills, four digs, and two block assists and Lopez recorded a team-high seven digs to go with four kills. Elder handed out 22 assists in the loss. 
 
The Saints must regroup before a big top-five showdown on Saturday morning (Feb. 1) for an 11:00 a.m. match with #4 Missouri Baptist. Last year in the national semifinals, Aquinas defeated then-#1 Missouri Baptist by a 3-1 final to advance to the national championship match, also in Des Moines, Iowa.