Goshen, Ind. – The (RV) men's volleyball team wrapped up its weekend trip to Indiana today (Mar. 4) with a match against the Goshen Maple Leafs. Aquinas was looking to bounce back after a tough five-set loss to Bethel last night. The Saints went to five sets once again after a couple of comeback set wins from Goshen. However, Aquinas gutted out a win in five sets tonight after winning by set scores of 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 20-25, and 15-12.

Aquinas improves to 10-8 with a 9-4 conference record. Goshen falls to 4-10 on the season with a 3-9 WHAC record.

AQ was playing from behind early in the first set after Goshen took nine of the first 14 points. However, Aquinas quickly began to start a comeback and, after a kill from Chase Gil, a kill from Joshua Boothroyd, and a pair of aces from Boothroyd, AQ tied the first set at 14. The Saints claimed their first lead of the set on the ensuing point after a massive Gil kill.

The AQ run continued to a total of eight points after two more aces from Boothroyd and a kill from Julian Armendano had the Saints out in front 19-14. Goshen couldn't quite get out of that late hole it was put in and a service error from the Maple Leafs sealed the first set for Aquinas. The Saints won the set by a score of 25-19.

Set number two started evenly with the two sides splitting the first eight points. However, that pace changed on the subsequent point with Goshen starting a 7-2 run and jumping out to an 11-6 lead.

Aquinas immediately responded with a run of its own, taking the next seven points and claiming the lead. Boothroyd, Armendano, and Leo-Paul Rousseau combined for five kills throughout the run.

Goshen tied the match at 13 soon after and the two teams traded points until the score was tied at 20-20. An error from Goshen on the ensuing point and a kill from Armendano put the Saints ahead 22-20, forcing Goshen to use a timeout to regroup.

That timeout couldn't have worked more perfectly as the Maple Leafs took the next five points to win the set 25-22.

Looking to bounce back from Goshen's second-set run, the Saints took nine of the first 15 points to establish an early lead in the third set. Goshen University eventually climbed back and tied the set at 13, but kills from Gil and Boothroyd put the Saints ahead again with the score at 18-16.

Both sides continued to trade points, but Goshen couldn't quite rally back like they did in the second set. A pair of errors from the Maple Leafs and a kill from Boothroyd spelled out a 25-21 third-set victory for the Saints.

In a set of runs, Goshen went ahead early with a 5-0 run to claim a 6-3 advantage. Just a few points later, the Saints went on a run of their own that included a Carter Sabo and Alexander Rodriguez block and a kill from Sabo. Another run from AQ that featured a kill from Armendano, an ace from Armendano, and a kill from Boothroyd put AQ in front 12-9.

Once again, the Maple Leafs began to claw back into the set and took the lead back with the score at 16-15. On the next point, AQ started a 4-0 run to establish a 19-16 advantage late in the set.

However, disaster struck Aquinas following the run. Goshen all but won the set with an 8-0 run to take a 24-19 advantage. Aquinas got one point back, but GU won the set on the ensuing point with a 25-20 victory.

It was gut-check time for the Saints after going to a fifth set once again today. Consecutive blocks from Gil and Armendano got the momentum rolling for AQ early in the set with Aquinas out in front 4-2. Several points later, Armendano slammed two kills into the floor to increase the Aquinas lead to 6-3.

A couple of points later, a block from Sabo and Rodriguez and an error from Goshen had AQ out in front 8-4. Kills from Armendano, Boothroyd, and Gil put the Saints way out in front 13-8.

Goshen nearly made yet another late-set comeback after taking the next four points to narrow the deficit to just one point. However, Gil ended the Goshen run to force match-point with a huge Gil Kill from the middle of the court. Boothroyd ended the match on the subsequent point with a solo block, giving the Saints a 15-12 fifth-set win.

Aquinas led in most statistical categories, leading in kills (56-51), hitting percentage (.288-.252), aces (11-10), and assists (56-50). Goshen held the advantage in blocks (11-8) and digs (42-38).

Armendano finished the match with a team-leading 18 kills (.196), three assists, one ace, three block assists, and five digs.

Boothroyd set a career-high with six aces tonight and increases his team-leading ace total this season to 31. Additionally, Boothroyd had 16 kills (.257), two assists, one solo block, one block assist, and 3 digs.

Gil continues to play well from the middle after posting a career-high 11 kills tonight with an impressive .444 hitting percentage. He also had two assists and two block assists.

Rousseau also continued to play well tonight, posting 44 assists, four kills, two block assists, and a team-leading 11 digs.

The Saints return to the Sturrus Center next weekend (Mar. 10-11) for a pair of tough matches. AQ is slated to take on No. 10-ranked Lourdes on Friday (Mar. 10) and No. 15-ranked Indiana Tech on Saturday (Mar. 11).