CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The Campbellsville University men's volleyball team hosted Truett McConnell University and the (RV) Webber International University at Gosser Gymnasium in a Mid-South Conference Pod Friday afternoon. The Tigers split their first day winning the opener and falling in a tough one to end the day.
Game One: Campbellsville 3, Truett McConnell 0
The match began with back-and-forth action as the Tigers and the Bears traded serves. A double block from Mason McKinney and Erik Malek won Campbellsville the ball to propel the Tigers on a four-point run. Campbellsville went on to rack up another four points by capitalizing from the Bears' error, a Kendall Walter kill, and an ace from Moritz Frauendorf. Truett McConnell called a timeout, but the Tigers continued to increase their lead. It was a quick finish to the set as McKinney's two kills as well as an error on Truett McConnell capped the set.
Set two was similar to set one as the Tigers went on several point runs. Campbellsville earned their lead with two kills from Damien Cole and Frauendorf. The Bears couldn't scratch back enough to stop Campbellsville from increasing their deficit. Logan Shafer racked up his kill count as his turn at the serving line resulted in an ace and two unreceived slams in the opposing court. As the Tigers stood 17-10 over the Bears, Campbellsville finished the match by only allowing the Bears to inch up five more points. The Tigers took set two in a score of 25-15.
As set three began, Shafer's kill and an ace for Malek boosted Campbellsville to the lead. The set's score evened at 6, but a bad set won back the ball for the Tigers. Campbellsville collected a quick five points as they used their opponents' errors to their advantage. The Tigers continued to build their lead up to 20-10 for a double-digit advantage. Campbellsville put up five more points in short order to finalize the match at 25-12.
Campbellsville was relentless as they collected 39 total kills to the eight that the Bears had earned. With that, the Tigers accumulated 36 assists compared to Truett McConnell's eight. Shafer was a key player as he finished the night with 12 kills, four aces, and one block. Fellow Tiger, Damien Cole collected 10 kills, two blocks, and two aces. McKinney swung at a .875 as he executed seven kills out of his eight attacks.
Game Two: Campbellsville 2, Webber 3
The Tigers jumped out first with a kill delivered from Jose Viera-Cerame. Both teams displayed their aggression for the serve and Campbellsville quickly realized Webber wouldn't go out without a fight. Webber won back the lead at 7-6 and capitalized off the Tigers' errors. Eric Heller solidified a tip to win back the serve. Campbellsville earned a speedy seven points which had only been interrupted once by an opposing kill. The Warriors traveled up their deficit to trail the Tigers by one. Swinging hard, Heller put the Tigers two points way from securing the set with his double kill. Campbellsville finished the set swinging .2 percent below Webber, but took set one 25-21.
The second set opened with the same intensity and energy that the first set had. The teams were trading points, but the set was tied up at 6 from a service error by Webber. The Tigers had the serve and then went on a 6-0 run to give themselves a five-point lead. Both teams were bouncing off each other's energy and would each go on small runs, but the score of the set remained close through the final points. Webber eventually won the set 25-23 and evened out the match. Each team had 13 kills on the set and the Tigers committed just one more error than Webber.
Campbellsville gained an early 5-1 lead to start the third set thanks to a few errors made by WIU. While the Tigers kept their energy high and Webber attempted to battle back, the Warriors committed a lot of errors that kept adding to the CU lead. The Tigers had only nine kills on the set but won it 25-16. Campbellsville continued to share the ball well with each other and dominated the third set to take the 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set determined whether Campbellsville would get the win or of set five would be forced. The score was close through the entirety of the set with neither team having more than a one-point lead until the score was 19-17. At that point, Webber started to stretch out their advantage. Errors weren't an issue for either team in the fourth set, but the Warriors made their presence known on offense with 21 kills compared to the Tiger's 12 kills. Webber went on to win the set 25-21 and took the match to set five.
The fifth set started off with a lot of energy as both teams battled for the win. Webber took a quick lead as they were up 8-4. Campbellsville called a timeout and when the Tigers came back Korreck had three huge kills that kept them in the game. As the Tigers tried to battle back and take the lead, the Warriors were the first to reach match-point, 14-10. Webber went on the win the set 15-12 and captured the match 3-2.
The Tigers only had 22 errors compared to the Warrior's 30, but Campbellsville had a .231 hit percentage compared to a .253 hit percentage from Webber. CU recorded 11 total blocks, 49 assists, 52 kills, and three aces in the match. The Tigers were led by Korreck with 15 kills, Heller with 11, and Jose Viera-Cerame with eight. Jason Camacho had 42 of the 49 total assists.
Campbellsville will be back in action on Saturday, March 19th and will face Reinhardt University to finish the Mid-South Conference pod. The game will start at 4:00 P.M. ET in Gosser Gymnasium.
