Grand Rapids, Mich. – The Aquinas men's volleyball team squared off against (RV) Lourdes in tonight's (Mar. 7) conference match. The Saints put together strong offensive stretches and battled to tightly contested the sets, but the Gray Wolves held firm to take the win in three straight sets.
Aquinas 0, Lourdes 3 (25-23, 25-16, 25-22)
Jonathan Collins set the tone early in the first set with a pair of kills, while Zachary Nosky and Kapelie Moala followed up to help Aquinas take a 4-2 lead. Nosky added another kill, but Lourdes responded with two quick points to even the score at 5-5. Alexander Rodriguez powered through with a kill, and an ace from Connor Staats knotted the set at 9-9. The teams remained locked in a tight battle until Lourdes strung together three consecutive points to go up 16-13. Kills from Rodriguez and Staats helped keep the Saints within striking distance, and a block from Staats and Rodriguez followed by another kill from Staats cut the deficit to 24-23. However, Lourdes secured the final point to claim the set 25-23.
Lourdes struck first in the second set with a 2-0 lead before Rodriguez landed a kill to get the Saints on the board. Collins, Moala, and Nosky each delivered kills, but the Saints still trailed 5-4. The Gray Wolves went on a scoring run to double AQ's total at 10-5, though back-to-back kills from Staats ended their surge. Aquinas responded with a three-point burst, highlighted by a block from Moala and Rodriguez and another ace from Staats, closing the gap to 11-10. However, Lourdes found another offensive push, extending their lead to 15-10. Despite a late kill from Staats, the Gray Wolves maintained control and took the second set 25-16.
Aquinas started strong in the third set, capitalizing on Lourdes' errors to take an early 3-2 lead. Collins and Moala each tallied another kill to extend the Saints' advantage to 6-4. However, Lourdes answered with a five-point run to claim a 9-6 lead. Ryden Luedtke chipped in a kill to bring the Saints back within two at 12-10. Nosky added two more kills, and a key block from Rodriguez and Luedtke kept Aquinas in contention at 19-17. The Saints made a late push, but the Gray Wolves held on to close out the set 25-22, sealing the match in three.
By the Numbers
Kills: Connor Staats (8), Kapelie Moala (7), Zachary Nosky (6)
Blocks: Alexander Rodrigues (4.0), Kapelie Moala (2.0) Ryden Luedtke (1.0)
Aces: Connor Staats (2)
Coach's Take
Head Coach Michael Crane talked of the team's success throughout the set but pointed to unforced errors and the challenge of establishing a consistent block as key areas for improvement.
"Tonight the team played great at certain points and not so well at others. Our offense was pretty solid, but our block had a hard time finding their footing, and to be honest, our serve receive was good for the first 2 sets, but fell apart in the 3rd set. In the 3rd set alone we made 15 errors and were still right there on the verge of winning the set. The guys need to figure out how to get out of their own way, and when they do, they will have the chance to win a lot of volleyball games."
Up Next
The Saints will be hitting the road to take on Bryant & Stratton March 11th at 7:00 p.m.
