Grand Rapids, Mich. – The AQ men's volleyball team took on crosstown foe Cornerstone University tonight (Feb. 13) inside the Sturrus Center. AQ entered the game undefeated against Cornerstone since the Golden Eagles' inaugural 2021 season. However, CU entered the contest with a perfect 3-0 record and had yet to drop a set. That trend continued tonight as the visitors won the match in three sets to remain perfect this season.

AQ falls to 2-4 with an 0-1 conference record. Cornerstone is now 4-0 overall with a 2-0 WHAC record.

Cornerstone 3, Aquinas 0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-17)

The Golden Eagles ran away with the first set after AQ took the first point of the match. CU went on a 16-7 run behind a powerful attack. CU ended the first set on a 6-0 run that featured two aces from David Galanes.

Cornerstone's newest addition, Ernest Broaster, began heating up in the second set. He ended the set with six kills and two block assists. CU held a firm lead for the entirety of the set and claimed a 2-0 match lead.

The third set was much more competitive at the start with Noah Smith-Slosar and Zachary Nosky combining for a few kills. A block from Smith-Slosar and Chase Gil put AQ ahead 10-9 with the match on the line.

However, Broaster began to heat up again to reclaim the Cornerstone lead. AQ soon found itself down 21-15 and couldn't quite manage to get a rally going. Aquinas was the beneficiary of a pair of Cornerstone errors, but the Golden Eagles beat the Saints for the first time in program history with a 25-17 third-set victory.

By the Numbers

Cornerstone held the statistical advantage in all categories, leading in kills, hitting percentage, aces, blocks, assists, and digs.

Jacob Davidson recorded five kills tonight with two digs. Both Smith-Slosar and Gil had two block assists.

Up Next

The Saints have a few days to regroup before they are back on the court. AQ is set to take on Campbellsville on Friday (Feb. 16) at 7:00 p.m. and Olivet Nazarene on Saturday (Feb. 17).