CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – In a rare non-conference match this late in the season, the Campbellsville University men's volleyball team took a four-set win over Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Friday night at Gosser Gymnasium.
The first three sets in the match were very tightly contested between the two teams as CU pulled out a pair of 25-22 sets in the first and third with the Cougars earning a 30-28 win in the second set. The Tigers were able to pull away with a more convincing 25-17 fourth set to close out the match.
The Tigers' attack was very strong on the night, finishing with a .425 team hitting percentage with 73 kills on 134 attacks with only 16 errors. On the opposite side, MVNU also only had 16 errors but produced nearly 30 less kills on 122 attacks for a .254 hitting percentage.
The potent CU attack on the night came from the outside as
Ho Yin Leung (25),
Rafael Cruz (18), and
Isaac Paches (14) combined for 57 of the team's 73 kills on the night with all three hitting for a hitting percentage over .440.
Campbellsville's middle blockers of
Noah Henkel and Nils Kleinschmit were also efficient on the attack as they hit for over .400 as well as
Ryan Smith at front row setter but they were set up less by Smith and Hernandez given the success of the trio on the outside.
With the Tigers holding such a strong advantage on kills, the Cougars were able to keep it so tightly contested based off of the Tigers not gaining many points on the serve as they struggled to serve the ball in bounds with 24 service errors in the match. Those 24 errors, tied a team-high for CU this season in a four-set match with their other 24-error match coming way back on Jan. 9 against Indiana Tech.
Mount Vernon Nazarene had a strong individual performance from freshman outside hitter Spencer Stanley as he finished with their team-high of 15 kills on only two errors. He was supported by Landon Ewers with 11 kills and Caden Donaldson with nine kills but it couldn't match the CU trio.
Campbellsville will get back into Mid-South Conference play this Sunday with a road match at Thomas More University at 4 p.m. ET.
