The Aquinas men's volleyball team hosted the Cougars in a big WHAC matchup on Saturday afternoon (Mar. 20) inside the Sturrus Center. Despite winning the third set, the Saints fell in four sets by scores of 18-25, 18-25, 25-20, and 24-26. 

Mount Vernon won the first set by totaling 12 kills and hitting .304 as a team. The Cougars kept the momentum going into the second hitting .500 as a team and finishing the set with a 15 kill total. The Saints responded in the fourth tallying 12 kills and hitting .385. Aquinas and Mount Vernon battled back and forth in the fourth set sharing 10 ties. 

Aquinas had the 23-21 advantage late in the fourth, before Mount Mercy tallied two huge blocks to even the score at 23 all. Gavin Jonker notched a kill before it was matched by the Cougars to tie the ball game again (24-24). A hitting error by the Saints and a solo block by Mount Vernon closed the set and match. The loss moves Aquinas to 4-10 overall, 3-7 WHAC. The win improves Mount Vernon to a 8-8 overall record, 4-6 in conference play. 

The Saints were led by Julian Armendano who totaled 22 kills with only 4 errors, hitting .429 in the match. Armendano also tallied five digs, two block assists, and an ace. Robert Valerio posted 11 kills for AQ and a block assist. Matthew Richmond dished out 37 assists and notched five digs.

Libero Kelsey Yogi totaled 10 digs and two assists. Daniel Littleton finished with five digs, three total blocks, and had a pair of aces. Jonker added six kills, three service aces, and two digs.

Aquinas was outperformed on the defensive end as Mount Vernon grabbed the advantage in digs (42-29) and blocks (7-3). AQ edged the Cougars in service aces (6-4). 

The Saints return to the court on Tuesday (Mar. 23) as AQ hosts Siena Heights for the battle of the Saints at the Sturrus Center. The big WHAC showdown will begin at 7:00 PM.