Grand Rapids, Mich. – The AQ men's volleyball squad opened up the WHAC Quarterfinals tonight (Mar. 29) against the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils. Aquinas entered the match with a 2-0 record this season against LTU. Aquinas won the home matchup 3-1 and the visiting matchup 3-2.

The Blue Devils finally managed to get a game back against the Saints in the opening round of the WHAC tournament. LTU won by set scores of 24-26, 25-15, 25-16, and 26-24.

Aquinas drops to 13-13 on the season and spills out of the tournament. LTU improves to 17-10 on the year and advances to the semi-finals against top-seeded Indiana Tech on Friday (Mar. 31).

Julian Armendano got off to a hot start in the first set, scoring three of AQ's first six points as Aquinas jumped out to a 6-1 advantage. Two more kills from Armendano, a kill from Carter Sabo, a kill from Joshua Boothroyd, and a kill from Leo-Paul Rousseau helped the Saints maintain the lead with a score of 14-11.

On the ensuing point, a Chase ace from Chase Gil improved the AQ lead to four. However, a pair of errors from AQ and two more kills from Lawrence Tech tied the match at 15. The two sides traded the next six points to tie the set at 18. On the subsequent point, a Blue Devil ace gave LTU its first lead of the set.

Both teams continued to go back and forth until two LTU errors and another kill from Armendano put the Saints back ahead with the score at 23-21. Lawrence Tech immediately responded with a three-point run of its own to reclaim the lead and set up a set-point opportunity.

A big kill from Sabo tied the set at 24 and a block from Alexander Rodriguez and Armendano on the next point gave AQ a set-point chance with the score at 25-24. Armendano proceeded to end the set with his ninth kill of the first set to give AQ a 26-24 victory.

Armendano ended the set accounting for ten of AQ's 26 points during the set.

An ace from Armendano, a kill from Boothroyd, and a Gil kill helped Aquinas get out ahead with a 3-1 advantage. Several points later, another Gil kill kept the Saints in the lead with the score at 5-4. LTU began building momentum and started a 7-1 run on the following point.

Kills from Armendano, Rodriguez, and Boothroyd scored the next four points for AQ, but Lawrence Tech remained in the driver's seat. Armendano scored the Saints' 15th point of the set to change the score line to 21-15 in favor of the Blue Devils. However, on the ensuing point, LTU went on a four-point run to finish the set 25-15.

The Blue Devils rolled their momentum into the third set as three separate three-point runs put the visitors ahead 12-5. Errors from LTU kept the Saints in the set as a pair of kills Armendano, an ace from Scott Hopkins, and another error from LTU narrowed the Lawrence Tech lead to just one with the score at 16-15.

Both teams traded the next two points to move the score line to 17-16. On the subsequent point, LTU managed to regroup and start another run. This run went the distance of the set as LTU scored the final eight points of the set to win 25-16.

The Saints remained consistent and took another early lead in the fourth set as a pair of kills from Boothroyd, a kill from Sabo, and a handful of errors from LTU put the Saints ahead 9-5. In another consistent aspect of the match, LTU began to march back following that early Aquinas lead. 22 points into the set, Lawrence Tech tied up the set at 11.

The set remained close as the score remained tied 14-14 several points later. Kills from Armendano, Boothroyd, and Rousseau helped the Saints start a 6-2 run to establish a 20-16 advantage. Lawrence Tech used its first timeout of the set in an attempt to regroup.

The timeout was effective as a pair of kills and a trio of errors from AQ helped the Blue Devils come back and tie the set at 21-21. The two teams traded the next six points to tie the match at 24-24 with the match on the line.

In a turn of events, LTU took the two points to claim the fourth set with a score of 26-24 to win the match 3-1.

Lawrence Tech held an advantage across all statistic categories, leading in kills (53-45), hitting percentage (.265-.175), aces (10-4), blocks (7-5), assists (52-44), and digs (45-29).

Armendano ended the match with a match-leading 18 kills (.225) to pair with his one ace, one block assist, and five digs.

Boothroyd was the other Saint to reach double-digit kills after finishing the match with 10 kills (.061). In addition, he had two assists, one block assist, and four digs.

Gil finished the match with seven Gil kills (.462), one Chase ace, and one block assist.

AQ's season likely comes to a close after tonight's match against Lawrence Tech. Aquinas' young team will begin to turn its attention to the 2024 season.