The AQ men's volleyball squad traveled across town to Cornerstone University tonight (Jan. 31) for an all-important rivalry matchup. After a long back-and-forth match, the Saints were able to rally back from a 2-1 deficit to pull off a 3-2 victory over the Golden Eagles. AQ won by set scores of 20-25, 25-22, 25-27. 25-19, and 15-11. AQ is now 7-1 with a 3-1 WHAC record.

The Golden Eagles started off strong in the first set, obtaining an early 11-6 lead over AQ. AQ attempted to make a late comeback, but a late 6-1 run for CU put them over the top to take a 1-0 lead. The second set was also extremely close, as neither side managed anything larger than a three-point run. Aquinas managed to barely sneak out a win in the second set for a 25-22 win, brining the match to a 1-1 score.

The third set was even closer as, again, neither side managed anything larger than a three-point run. AQ held a late 25-24 lead, looking to close out the set. However, Cornerstone mustered a their only three-point run of the set to win 27-25 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Cornerstone jumped out to another early lead in the fourth set as they looked to close out the match. Aquinas had other ideas, as they rallied back and got out to a comfortable lead, resulting in a 25-19 victory in the fourth set. Aquinas picked up where they left off in the fifth set, winning the set and the match by a score of 15-11.

Aquinas held the advantage in most statistical categories, leading in kills (65-51), hitting percentage (.307-.219), assists (62-46), digs (48-29), and blocks (10-3).

It was a career night for the Saints with four Saints setting career highs. Julian Armendano led the team in kills with 25 (.409), a career high for Armendano. He also contributed nine digs and two solo blocks to the winning effort.

Joshua Boothroyd also set a career high in kills with 18 (.263). Boothroyd had himself a solid night outside of kills as well, adding an ace, four digs, a solo block, and a block assist to his stat line.

Daniel De La Rosa was the third Saint to set a career high in kills with 11 (.529). De La Rosa also had an ace, four digs, and five block assists.

Matthew Richmond was the fourth and final Saints to set a personal-best tonight. Richmond had 49 assists, an ace, 11 digs, and two block assists tonight. The 49 assists was his personal career best at Aquinas.

Kelsey Yogi had himself a great night as the libero, adding up three aces and 14 digs.

Aquinas plays their next match against Adrian on Thursday (Feb. 3). The match is set to begin at 7 PM in the Sturrus Center.