The (RV) Aquinas Saints men's volleyball team is on to the WHAC finals after beating #10 Lourdes for the second-straight match. AQ came back from dropping a heartbreaking first set 27-25 to win the next three sets and win the match 3-1.
Aquinas won by set scores of 25-27, 25-22, 26-24, and 25-22 to advance in the tournament. Since starting their 11-match win streak against Indiana Tech, the Saints have now beaten five nationally ranked teams during their win streak.
Lourdes took the first set by storm, jumping out to an early 5-2 lead. Aquinas would quickly erase that lead and tie the set at 5-5. This would be the story of the first set as Lourdes would take the lead and AQ would erase the deficit. Lourdes would go on to take a 22-20 advantage late in the first set, but a kill from
Robert Valerio and an ace from
Daniel De La Rosa would quickly erase the lead again. The two sides would trade points back-and-forth until the set was tied at 25s. Jeff Lam would continue to be a thorn in the side of the Saints as he would pick up a late kill to take a 26-25 lead. Head coach,
Michael Crane, would take a late timeout in an attempt to rally the troops. Unfortunately, that effort would be futile as Lourdes would win the set on the next point with a service ace.
The second set would start in favor of the Gray Wolves, as they would take an early 10-5 advantage. However, AQ would quickly roar back and erase the deficit to just one point. The second set appeared to be going to Lourdes with a late 19-14 lead. But the resilient Saints would do what they have done best throughout their win streak. They would come back late in the set. A combination of kills from
Joshua Boothroyd and
Matthew Richmond would quickly erase the Lourdes lead. Shortly after, a massive solo block from De La Rosa would give the Saints a late 22-21 lead with all the momentum in favor of Aquinas. De La Rosa would get another kill and Boothroyd would get two late service aces to close out the second set 25-22.
The third set had to stick to the precedent set by the first two sets. Lourdes would race out to an early 8-3 advantage, only for Aquinas to make a comeback throughout the set. At one point, Lourdes would hold a 16-9 advantage, but even that would not be enough to hold the Saints off. De La Rosa continued to be a menace at the net with a couple more blocks, while
Julian Armendano and Boothroyd would be the offensive catalyst for Aquinas. With the season potentially on the line, Aquinas would come raging back from a 24-21 deficit to take five consecutive points to win the set 26-24.
Kelsey Yogi would serve all five points for Aquinas while Boothroyd and De La Rosa would get two kills a piece to take an all-important 2-1 match lead.
The tides appeared to be changing in the fourth set as, for the first time in the match, the Gray Wolves would not take an early lead. AQ would change the script and it would be Lourdes who would closely trail for the entirety of the fourth set. Down 23-17, Lourdes would attempt to do its best impression of Aquinas and start a late comeback. They would narrow the lead down to 24-22 before the Saints would use their first timeout. The timeout would do the trick as De La Rosa would end the match will a huge kill to give AQ a 25-22 fourth set victory.
AQ would hold the statistical advantage in every category over LU, leading in kills (61-52), hitting percentage (.281-.234), assists (58-51), aces (6-5), blocks (10-9), and digs (55-48).
Armendano would lead the team in kills with 20 (.234). He would also contribute a pair of assists, an ace, and 13 digs in the winning effort.
On the other side, Boothroyd had 16 kills (.278) of his own. He would also have a pair of assists, three aces (including two to win the second set), two block assists, and eight digs.
De La Rosa was a monster for the Saints this match, putting down 12 kills on an incredible .556 hitting percentage. Not only that, but he had an assist, an ace, a solo block, six block assists, and three digs for an incredible stat line.
Richmond continued to impress as the setter for the Saints with 46 assists in four sets, two kills on two attacks, three block assist, and seven digs.
Yogi would play stout defense as the libero with 16 digs throughout the four sets and seven assists.
Aquinas took the win in the latest chapter of the rivalry between the Saints and the Gray Wolves. AQ will take on the winner of the matchup between #1 Indiana Tech and #4 Siena Heights. The WHAC Championship will be played tomorrow in Fort Wayne, Indiana with a start time of 3:00 PM.
