CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Starting off their play in the MSC Pod they're hosting this weekend, the Campbellsville University men's volleyball team earned a four-set win over St. Andrews University Friday night at Gosser Gymnasium.
The Tigers struggle out of the gates as they dropped the opening set 25-22 but were able to bounce back and win the next three sets to finish the match with scores of 22-25, 25-17, 25-16, and 25-22. CU was shorthanded a few players due to COVID-19 protocols and return to play, so they stuck to a seven-person lineup for most of the match.
Outside of the first set,
Jose Viera Cerame,
Jakob Zum Kolk,
Nils Kleinschmidt,
Noah Henkel,
Ryan Smith,
Rafael Cruz, and
Jay Montalvo were the Tigers on the floor for the entirety of the match.
Zum Kolk and Viera Cerame shined in enhanced roles against the Knights as the pair combined for 21 of the team's 47 kills in the match. Both added points on the serve with Viera Cerame adding four aces and Zum Kolk adding an ace as they also did their part on the back row with Zum Kolk earning a double-double with 10 digs and Viera Cerame adding six of his own.
Campbellsville figured something out on the serve in the second set as they continued to attack the passing of SAU's Janmanuel Montalvo as the Knights' freshman finished with seven return errors.
The St. Andrews Montalvo had a strong night on the attack, however, as he added 12 kills just behind match leader Diego Hernandez of the Knights as Hernandez finished with 17 kills.
The Tigers were strong on the block in the match outblocking St. Andrews 7-2 in the match with Henkel at least helping out on all seven of the blocks as he finished with seven block assists. Smith had a pair of block assists as he was forced into playing full rotation, which is rare for the 6-6 setter but he was successful finishing with 38 assists in the match.
Senior Cruz added 11 kills for the Tigers as Henkel finished with six, Kleinschmidt added five, Smith had three of his own and even Montalvo at libero finished with a kill on four attacks.
Campbellsville will play two more matches tomorrow as they get started at 10 a.m. against Truett-McConnell before facing Warner University at 4 p.m. ET at Gosser Gymnasium.
