Grand Rapids, Mich. – The AQ men's volleyball side took on Mount Vernon Nazarene University tonight (Feb. 23). The receiving votes Cougars entered the matchup with a 5-1 record – their only loss coming to a solid Siena Heights team. MVNU improved to six wins this season after a three-set sweep over the Saints.
AQ's rebuilding year continues as the Saints have now dropped eight consecutive matches after winning the first two.
Mount Vernon 3, Aquinas 0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-16)
The Cougars grabbed a quick lead in the first set, but a kill from
Ernesto Lopez and a block from
Joseph Koss and
Chase Gil kept the score close. Mount Vernon went on another brief run, but a pair of aces from Gil once again kept the Saints in it.
MVNU finally strung together a 5-1 run following Gil's aces to begin to break away. Then, with the score at 15-12, the visitors put together a six-point run to take down the first set.
The second set was far more competitive with the two teams trading blows. Neither side managed to score more than two consecutive points until a 5-1 run towards the end of the set put the Cougars ahead 21-16. The set appeared over a few points later, but a resilient Saints side took down five of the ensuing six points to bring the score within one.
Mount Vernon used a timeout to regroup with AQ on the brink of extending the set, but a Spencer Stanley kill ended the second set in favor of the Ohio team.
The final set started close as a Lopez ace brought the Saints within one point with the score at 12-11. A Koss kill, an MVNU error, and a
Jonathan Collins kill put AQ ahead 14-13 for the first time since the start of the second set. However, a more experienced Cougars team rallied to score nine of the next 10 points to effectively win the set.
By the Numbers
Despite the score line, some of the stats were quite close between the two teams with AQ leading in aces (5-4) while trailing in digs (25-20), and blocks (10-6).
Koss and Lopez both ended the contest with seven kills, tied for the team lead. Lopez also had an ace, three digs, and two block assists while Koss had five digs and a receiving error.
Leo-Paul Rousseau did a bit of everything with a kill, 20 assists, an ace, four digs, and a block assist.
Up Next
Aquinas battles the Cougars once more tomorrow (Feb. 24) inside the Sturrus Center. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.
