Grand Rapids, Mich. – The (RV) Saints men's volleyball team returned to action this afternoon (Feb. 18) for a home matchup against the Goshen Maple Leafs. Joshua Boothroyd entered today's match just two kills short of 1,000 career kills to become the first player in Aquinas men's volleyball history to reach that milestone. Boothroyd hit that milestone in the first set to become the first player in program history to reach the 1,000-kill mark and received a massive standing ovation for his accomplishment.

Following Boothroyd's kill in the first set, Goshen rallied to take the first set by a score of 25-23. The Maple Leafs continued the momentum and took the next two sets as well by scores of 25-20 and 27-25 to win the match.

Aquinas moves to 7-5 on the season with a 6-3 conference record. Goshen improves to 3-6 on the year with a 3-5 WHAC record.

Boothroyd got the first kill he needed on just the second point of the set to give AQ a 2-0 lead. The Saints kept their foot on the pedal and a kill from Carter Sabo gave AQ an 8-1 advantage early in the set.

Goshen responded immediately and claimed nine of the following 11 points to tie the set at 10 and completely erase the deficit. The two sides began to trade points with both teams tied at 12. On the ensuing point, Boothroyd picked up his 1,000th career kill to take a 13-12 lead. Michael Crane called timeout and the crowd erupted in applause for the senior outside hitter.

Another kill from Boothroyd, a kill from Sabo, and a kill from Julian Armendano kept the Saints ahead with the score at 19-17. On the subsequent point, Goshen got some momentum going and strung together a 3-0 run to retake the lead late in the set. The Saints kept the set close, but Goshen managed to pull ahead to take the first set 25-23.

The second set started with the Saints taking a 5-2 advantage after a pair of kills from Armendano and a rare triple block featuring Armendano, Sabo, and Chase Gil. AQ kept that momentum going and built its lead to five with the score at 15-10. However, on the ensuing point, the Maple Leafs started a run that went on for seven points to take a 17-15 advantage.

A service error broke the run, but Goshen immediately picked up a 4-0 run following that error. Trailing by five late in the set, Aquinas couldn't quite get back into the set and the Maple Leafs took the second set 25-20.

The third set continued the theme of AQ taking an early lead as the home side got out in front 8-6. However, in what was also consistent with this match, Goshen rallied to take a 5-0 run and claim the upper hand midway through the set.

AQ rallied back with a five-point run of its own a few points later, featuring kills from Armendano and Sabo. Goshen used its first timeout of the set with Aquinas in the lead 16-15.

The Maple Leafs began another rally and took eight of the next 13 points to claim a 23-21 advantage. Boothroyd took over late in the set and picked up two more kills to give Aquinas a 24-23 set-point opportunity. Goshen responded by taking the next two points to force a match-point chance of its own. Boothroyd tied the match at 25, but the Maple Leaves took the following two points to take the set 27-25 and win the match 3-0.

Goshen led in most statistical categories, holding the advantage in kills (41-36), hitting percentage (.264-.200), aces (7-2), assists (38-34), and digs (30-24). The Saints had more blocks (10-9).

Boothroyd ended his milestone match with ten total kills, one assist, two solo blocks, three digs, and both of AQ's total aces.

Armendano added up 14 kills over the course of the three sets with an impressive .407 hitting percentage. He also had an assist, a block assist, and five digs.

Sabo also played well after tallying seven kills (.385), five block assists, and two digs.

Callahan Schwartz totaled 31 assists as the setter, averaging 10.33 assists per set. In addition, he had one kill, two block assists, and five digs.

Aquinas finishes out its three-match homestand on Tuesday (Feb. 21) to take on Siena Heights. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM inside the Sturrus Center.