ST. LOUIS, Mo. – It was a much anticipated 2020 season opener for the Campbellsville University men's volleyball team and the match lived up to the hype as CU earned a 3-2 victory over No. 2 Missouri Baptist on the road Thursday night.
 
The Tigers looked to sweep the Spartans early on after 25-21 wins in the first two sets but then MBU took the third 25-21 followed by a 25-23 fourth set win to set up fifth and deciding set.
 
In that fifth set, Campbellsville jumped out to a 6-3 lead then a 7-4 lead but that score was eventually tied at 7-7 before the largest lead for either team was one point before the Tigers earned a 20-18 set victory to win the match.
 
Newcomers to the CU roster played a huge role for head coach Eric Snyder in the opener as their top-three leaders in kills all played their first match in a Campbellsville uniform. Mats Radzuweit and Ramon Matos each led the way for the Tigers with 14 kills in the match as Yannik Ahr added 11 kills.
 
Returners Rafael Cruz and Jason Camacho were solid in hitting and setting roles for Campbellsville as Cruz added eight kills and Camacho led Campbellsville with 29 assists. Camacho shared time as the team's setter with Ryan Smith as the 6-6 freshman finished the match with 19 assists.
 
Another Tiger making his debut was John Montalvo as he racked up 16 digs in his first match after redshirting last season to lead all players in the match in the defensive category.
 
Campbellsville was significantly better than Missouri Baptist on the attack and defensively as they hit for a .242 hitting percentage as a team compared to .159 for the Spartans along with blocks going to CU 16-12. The Spartans were able to severely gain a point advantage on the serve finishing with 11 aces to just four for the Tigers.
 
This is just the start of the busy weekend for Campbellsville men's volleyball as they will head north a bit to Quincy, Ill. for a neutral court match against No. 3 in the NAIA, Grand View University at 4 p.m. ET before a match each on Saturday and Sunday.