ADRIAN, Mich. — The (RV) Tigers out dug the Saints of Siena Heights with 40 digs on the night in their 3-1 win.
Campbellsville was up 6-4, achieved by taking advantage of Siena Heights' errors and playing clean on their side of the net. Saints attempted to slow the Tigers down by calling a timeout, but they were unsuccessful as Campbellsville continued paving the path of success. At 12-6, the Tigers had obtained six points from kills and six from the Saints' errors.
Jakob Zum Kolk also recorded four digs. Campbellsville continued to establish dominance throughout the match as
John-Marcos Gonzalez went on a five-point scoring run, including two aces.
JoVeaun Banks brought the heat from the middle as he put away a crucial ball to extend the Tigers' lead to 24-16. Zum Kolk won the last point of the set with an out-of-system set from
Andres Laboy. The first set finished 25-20 for the Tigers.
In the second set, the Tigers started hot with a five-point run. While Laboy was behind the service line for the five-point run, he also added an ace to his resume. Momentum kept building for the Tigers as they pushed their lead to 12-2.
Diego Betancourt ran the offense efficiently and effectively, with the Tigers hitting .615 as a team. Campbellsville finished off the Saints in the second set 25-17. Betancourt was leading the team with 20 assists. Gonzalez and Banks both had a hitting percentage of .500% at the end of the set.
Leonel Fernandez opened up the third set with two kills, putting the Tigers ahead early on. The Tigers were up 6-5 and were hitting a perfect 1.000% as they had six kills and no errors as a team. Fernandez put up back-to-back kills for the Tigers as they continued to move toward the finish line, making the score 9-7. Siena Heights started to battle back as they took the lead 19-16, forcing the Tigers to call a timeout. The Saints continued to extend their lead after the timeout, and Campbellsville was unresponsive as the score increased to 21-16 for the Saints. The Tigers could not find their rhythm and lost the third set 25-20.
The fourth set opened up with a five-point run by the Tigers, two coming from kills on the outside from Zum Kolk. After that spree, the Tigers and Saints battled point for point. Betancourt distributed the ball to his hitters, allowing the Tigers to go on a four-point run, forcing the Saints to call a timeout at 16-12. Campbellsville let up pressure and Siena Heights came back into the match. The Tigers' careless errors made the score 20-19. Fernandez came out of a Campbellsville timeout with fire, and registered back-to-back kills for the Tigers.
Jariel Diaz put the ball away and ended the match 25-21.
Tigers finished the day with an impressive 58 kills on 121 attempts with 23 errors. Betancourt had 44 of the team's 53 assists. The Tigers outperformed the Saints in every category except for their blocking.
Campbellsville will play next Thursday, February 16th at 7 p.m. ET at home in Gosser Gymnasium against fellow Mid-South Conference member Midway University.
