The Aquinas men's volleyball team hosted Siena Heights for the battle of the Saints inside the Sturrus Center on Tuesday night (Mar. 9). Aquinas was unable to grab the WHAC win, as Siena Heights hit a team .326 percentage as AQ fell short in four sets by scores of 17-25, 12-25, 25-22, and 22-25.
The loss drops AQ to a 3-9 overall record and 2-6 in WHAC play. The home Saints got off to a hot start in the first, going on a 6-1 run to start the match. Siena Heights quickly responded and didn't look back. AQ ended up hitting .000 in the first set and .087 in the second, as the visiting Saints notched .212 and .500 percentages in the first two sets. Aquinas didn't have an answer for the Siena Heights offense until the third.
AQ battled back in the third set despite being down two sets to none. The home Saints hit .316 and posted more than triple the amount of kills (17) than in the second set (5). Aquinas kept the momentum going into the fourth set, hitting .294 and finishing with a 14 kill count, but fell short by a 22-25 score. The win improves Siena Heights to a 6-4 overall record, 3-3 WHAC.
Aquinas was led by Julian Armendano who totaled a match-high 19 kills with only one error, hitting .692 and only played in two sets. Armendano also added three digs. Robert Valerio posted six kills and 12 digs. Valerio also tallied three block assists.
Matthew Richmond dished out 28 total assists and added nine digs for the home Saints. Daniel Littleton notched five kills and also tallied three block assists. Josh Evers finished with eight digs while Sean Kelley totaled six digs, three kills, and two service aces. Leo-Paul Rousseau added eight assists and three digs for AQ.
Siena Heights took the advantage over Aquinas in total kills (64-42), assists (56-39), and digs (53-47). AQ and SHU both tallied four service aces each. Siena Heights also grabbed the edge in total blocks, 8-6.
AQ is back on the court next Tuesday (Mar. 16) as Aquinas travels down the road to face crosstown rival Cornerstone in a big WHAC contest. First serve against the Golden Eagles is set for 7:00 PM.
