The AQ men's volleyball team traveled to Southfield, Michigan to take on the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils tonight (Feb. 23) in an important WHAC matchup. Aquinas managed to skate by the Blue Devils by a score of 25-21 in the first period. Lawrence Tech bounced back in the second set, winning 25-18. However, it would be the Saints that would pull through this match, as they won the third set by a score of 25-21 and the fourth set by a score of 25-22. The 3-1 result improves AQ to 10-5 on the season with a 5-4 WHAC record.
The first set was very close as the score as each side would have seven points shortly into the match. It looked like the Blue Devils were going to break away, as they scored four straight to take a 12-8 lead. However, a pair of kills from
Julian Armendano, a block from
Daniel De La Rosa and
Robert Valerio, and an ace from
Matthew Richmond quickly got the Saints right back into the set. A few points later, De La Rosa had two consecutive aces to give the Saints their first lead since the start of the set with a 16-15 advantage. The two sides would remain close with the score tied at 20-20. From there, the Saints would score four consecutive points to ice the set and win the set by a score of 25-21.
The Blue Devils were determined to make a comeback in the second set as they took an early 11-4 advantage. That 11-4 advantage would quickly turn into a 16-5 advantage just a few points later. AQ would begin to rally back, but it was too little, too late. LTU would eventually close out the set with a 25-18 win and tying the match at 1-1.
The Saints would turn the tides in the third set as they quickly were up 7-1. Lawrence Tech would try to battle back, but Aquinas held a steady lead for the entirety of the set. AQ would eventually go on to win the set by a score of 25-21 and take a 2-1 match lead. The match would come down to the fourth set.
LTU appeared to be in command of the fourth set with a quick 7-2 advantage of its own. Just a few points later, the Blue Devils had a commanding 12-5 lead over the Saints. However, a few kills and a pair of blocks from the Saints gave them a 6-0 run and cut the Blue Devil lead down to just two points. Aquinas would complete the comeback and tie up the set at 17-17, forcing an LTU timeout to try and stop the growing AQ momentum. Lawrence Tech came out of the timeout scoring two points, but Aquinas quickly returned it with two points of its own. Kills from Armendano and De La Rosa would close out the match as Aquinas would win the set 25-22.
AQ held the statistical advantage in nearly all of the categories, leading in kills (51-43), hitting percentage (.205-.168), assists (51-40), aces (8-7), and digs (42-37). The Blue Devils had more blocks (12-10).
Armendano's phenomenal season continued with 19 kills tonight. He continued to do a little bit of everything for the Saints as he also added an assist, an ace, a solo block, two block assists, and seven digs to his seasonal resume.
Joshua Boothroyd had 11 kills himself in the winning effort tonight. Boothroyd also contributed an ace, a block assist, and four digs.
De La Rosa and Valerio continued to be a defensive menace for the Saints as the two combined for 11 block assists and a solo block. Not only that, the two had 16 combined kills, two aces, and four digs.
Matthew Richmond has arguably his best match of the season, posting 45 assists, three aces, and nine digs.
Kelsey Yogi continued to play well defensively as he added another 15 digs to his season total. In addition, Yogi posted an ace on the scoresheet.
AQ is back on the court this Friday (Feb. 25) with a home matchup against #14 Saint Xavier. The match is set to begin at 7:00 PM in the Sturrus Center.
