The AQ men's volleyball team meant business today (Feb. 19) as they made quick work of the Olivet Nazarene Tigers. AQ came out swinging and quickly won three straight sets by scores of 25-19, 25-18, and 25-22. The Saints stopped their four-match skid to get a win in the third game of their four-match road stand. This win improves the Saints record to 9-5 with a 4-4 WHAC conference record.

Aquinas ran out to a commanding 9-2 lead to start the first set with a combination of kills from Julian Armendano and Robert Valerio. The Tigers would begin to make a comeback, but Aquinas quickly snuffed that out. Through a variation of kills and errors from ONU, Olivet Nazarene was looking at a deficit of 21-16. Aremendano got the final four kills of the set for Aquinas as they won the first set by a comfortable score of 25-18.

The Tigers were looking for a better outcome in the second set and started out with a hot 4-0 start. However, three consecutive attack errors for the Tigers quickly got AQ back into the set. A couple more errors, along with a block and a kill from Darnell Eudoxie and the Saints had their first lead of the set at 8-7. The teams would trade points until Daniel De La Rosa's kill and two aces begun to break the Saints away. AQ would go on to win the second set by a score of 25-19.

The third set started neck-and-neck between the two sides. A slew of kills from several different Saints begun to turn the tide as Aquinas managed to pull off six consecutive points for a 16-9 lead. The match looked to be comfortably in control for Aquinas, but the Tigers began to rally and eventually tied the set at 19-19. A kill from Joshua Boothroyd, a block from Matthew Richmond and Eudoxie, and an attack error for ONU gave Aquinas the momentum that they needed to finish out the set. AQ would win the third set 25-22.

Aquinas led in almost all statistical categories, topping Olivet Nazarene in kills (32-25), hitting percentage (.143-.067), assists (31-24), aces (11-1), and digs (25-19). The Tigers had more blocks (10-6).

Aremendano had a phenomenal match with 17 kills (.300) in three sets. Additionally, Armendano had two aces and four digs in the winning effort.

De La Rosa had himself five kills, three aces, and four block assists in the win tonight. He had the most blocks on the team this match.

Matthew Richmond was again the starter at setter, and he delivered with a solid performance. He contributed 29 assists, two aces, two block assists, and a dig.

Kelsey Yogi was the team leader in digs with a whopping 14 digs in three sets. He also had a pair of assists along with a pair of aces in the match tonight.

Aquinas will be taking on Lawrence Tech this Wednesday (Feb. 23) for the final match of the four-match road stand. The match is set to begin at 7:00 PM.