The (RV) AQ men's volleyball squad finally returned home today (Feb. 25) for its first home match since February 12. The Saints are coming off of two road wins and were looking to carry that momentum into this big match against the #14 Saint Xavier Cougars. The Cougars played a neutral site matchup against Cornerstone University prior to the match between SXU and AQ. Saint Xavier won the match by a score of 3-1. Saint Xavier would go 2-0 tonight with a 3-0 sweep over Aquinas. SXU won by set scores of 25-17, 25-22, and 25-22.
AQ is now 10-6 on the season and still holds a 5-4 WHAC record.
Saint Xavier started off the first set with a 4-0 run and never took its foot off the gas. The Cougars maintained a steady lead, despite several errors from both sides. Aquinas never managed to mount a comeback as SXU comfortably won the first set by a score of 25-17.
The second set started similarly to the first set with an early run from the Cougars. AQ would bounce back and hold an 8-7 advantage over SXU. The match would remain close as Saint Xavier held just a 20-19 lead as the match was coming down to the wire. However, SXU would score five of the final seven points to go on and win the set 25-22.
The third set had an interesting start as Saint Xavier was issued a red card to start the set, giving AQ an immediate 1-0 lead. AQ would score the next two points, giving them a 3-0 lead. It would be the Cougars would rally back as they quickly held an 8-5 advantage over the Saints. SXU would continue its positive momentum and would force a timeout from Aquinas with a 15-10 lead halfway through the third set. AQ picked up a couple of points out of the timeout, but it would not be enough as the Cougars held the lead to the end, winning the third and final set 25-22.
The Cougars held a statistical edge over the Saints in kills (43-26), hitting percentage (.466-.328), assists (37-26), aces (10-4), and digs (21-16). The Saints had more blocks than the Cougars (4-2).
Julian Armendano did a little bit of everything tonight with 11 kills (.450), two aces, five digs, and one block assist. Armendano was the team leader in kills, aces, and digs.
Daniel De La Rosa was the team leader in blocks with three block assists. De La Rosa added a dig to the scoresheet as well.
Aquinas has another tough test tomorrow (Feb. 26) with a matchup against undefeated #5 Indiana Tech. The match is set to begin at 3:00 PM tomorrow in the Sturrus Center
