The (RV) AQ men's volleyball squad competed in the battle of the Saints tonight (Mar. 23) as the team honored its seniors with senior night. AQ continues to find ways to win as they picked up a ninth straight win coming down the home stretch of the season. Aquinas would win by set scores of 22-25, 25-23, 28-26, and 25-22. AQ is now 19-6 after an impressive run with a 9-4 WHAC record. As of now, Aquinas is the third seed in the WHAC standings.

The first set started off hot for Siena Heights as they took an early advantage, forcing an early timeout for Aquinas. AQ would rally back with a few big kills of its own, forcing a timeout from SHU with the score at 15-11 in favor of Siena Heights. Aquinas would continue to battle back and a couple of service aces from Joshua Boothroyd would tie the set at 17-17, forcing Siena Heights to take its second timeout of the set to slow down the AQ momentum. The second timeout would work as Siena Heights would storm back. Boothroyd took a swing with the score at 22-21 in favor of SHU and the ball appeared to go off the finger of a SHU player. The refs would say otherwise, and Siena Heights would take the following point, giving them a commanding 24-21 advantage. SHU would go on to win set number one by a score of 25-22.

The second set was off to a rough start for AQ as SHU would race out to a commanding 13-6 lead, forcing a preemptive timeout from the home side to attempt to start a comeback. Evidently, the timeout would work wonders for AQ as they would score seven of the next nine points. With a rapidly closing lead, Siena Heights took a timeout of its own to try and stop the Aquinas momentum. Aquinas would narrow the lead, but Siena Heights would begin to pull away again with a 20-17 lead. AQ would take its second timeout of the set in an attempt to salvage the set. The second timeout would work as AQ would go on a huge run with Boothroyd serving to take the lead back. A huge swing from Robert Valerio would give AQ the 25-23 victory that they needed to tie up the match.

The second set victory started to turn the momentum in favor of AQ, as they would shoot out of the gates in the third set, taking a big 8-3 lead. Julian Armendano and Darnell Eudoxie would pick up consecutive blocks to force a SHU timeout. AQ appeared to be in control for the majority of the set. Errors from both sides would keep SHU in the set as they would continue to hang around. Siena Heights progressively narrowed the lead until AQ held just a one-point lead at 20-19. SHU would tie the set at 20s, but AQ would score two straight points and force a Siena Heights timeout. The visiting side would score three consecutive points out of the timeout to take a 23-22 lead as AQ would take a timeout with the set coming down to the wire.

AQ would bounce back, and the audience would get bonus volleyball in the third set. AQ would hold a slim advantage but couldn't quite get the two points needed for a win. Boothroyd would change that win a huge block to give Aquinas a 28-26 victory in the third set. The fourth set was up next with the match on the line.

The fourth set continued to be a back-and-forth affair between the two sides with the visiting side holding a slim lead throughout the set. SHU would go up 17-14 and AQ would respond with a timeout as they would try to come back to close out the match. In a continuing theme of the match, the trailing side would mount a late comeback again. AQ would roar back to tie the set at 18s and force a SHU timeout after a big solo block from Eudoxie. Siena Heights appeared to be set to take the lead, but AQ would come roaring back again to take a 24-22 lead with the match on the line. Kelsey Yogi would take the serve that would determine the match. Daniel De La Rosa would answer the call to end the match with a 25-22 fourth set victory.

Aquinas held the advantage in nearly all statistical categories, leading in kills (54-42), hitting percentage (.216-.119), aces (6-1), digs (42-41), and assists (50-40). The teams tied with 12 blocks a piece.

Armendano was the leader in kills with 21 (.173). He also posted one assist, two block assists, and five digs.

De La Rosa had a great match himself with 12 kills on a .556 hitting percentage. In addition, he posted three block assists and three digs.

Matthew Richmond continued his stellar play as the setter with 48 assists (12 per set), an ace, four block assists, and six digs.

Yogi was stout defensively with 16 digs.

AQ will play its final match of the regular season with a road match against #10 Lourdes. The match is set to begin at 7:00 PM on Saturday (Mar. 26).