CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The #14 Campbellsville Tigers made their home-opening appearance Friday afternoon, hosting the #12 Reinhardt Eagles and the Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars. Campbellsville, despite showing out in set one of their ranked match-up, dropped three straight competitive sets to Reinhardt in their loss, but then came out with a resounding recovery against Mount Vernon Nazarene whom they bested in four sets.

Game One: Campbellsville 1, Reinhardt 3

The first set started with a striking overpass kill from Pedro Zavatini, giving Campbellsville the opening kill of the match. The Tigers then went on to score four points in a row, making Reinhardt call a timeout very early in the first set. Campbellsville was off to a roaring start with two back-to-back kills by Mason McKinney to push their advantage to seven at 10-3, forcing Reinhardt to use their last timeout. After a straightforward set, the Tigers took the first game from Reinhardt convincingly, 25-12.

In the second, the Tigers and the Eagles battled each point compared to the previous set. With the set tied at 8's Denzel Madrigal took a swing that ignited the Tigers. Campbellsville took the lead and made the Eagles call a timeout at 19-16. However, after the timeout the Eagles crawled back to tie the set at 21's. The Tigers were forced to call a timeout at 26-25. A wide-open swing by Ayoube Hamadache brought the Tigers right back into things, but, ultimately, the Eagles won 28-26.

The Eagles opened the third set with the quick lead, but the Tigers did not slip away and connected two consecutive kills from Hamadache. Reinhardt rallied and rebounded, forcing Campbellsville to call a timeout, 20-16. With multiple back-and-forth points, both sides were giving it all they had. With the score tied at 23's, an ace by John-Marcos Gonzalez electrified the Tigers. However, the Eagles earned the match point in extras again, 27-25.

In the fourth set, the Eagles came out hot on a 9-4 scoring run. A service ace by Alonzo Vega pushed the Tigers to fight back but Campbellsville struggled to find their rhythm in serve receive causing the Tigers to call a timeout at 14-8. Hitting errors also proved to be trouble for Campbellsville in the latter part of the set. Reinhardt took the fourth set and the overall win, 25-16.

Game Two: Campbellsville 3, Mount Vernon Nazarene 1

To kick off set one, Mason McKinney earned all five of the Tigers points. Campbellsville was firing on all cylinders, offensively and defensively. A kill from David Barcan assisted by Alzono Vega put the Tigers over Mount Vernon to end the first set. Campbellsville's offensive pressure proved too much as the Tigers took the first set, 25-10.

Opening the second set, Campbellsville was on the board first due to a free-ball error by Mount Vernon. The Cougars kept the game even at the start, but it did not take long for the Tigers to get hot. Moritz Frauendorf had an astounding backrow swing that pushed the Tigers to the finish line. Multiple new faces on the Tigers squad got a chance to see the court including Deuel Burk who gave an amazing assist to Guthrie Hite. Campbellsville grabbed the second set, 25- 18.

The Tigers' third game was initially promising, with an ace by Diego Betancourt keeping the Cougars on their toes. McKinney and Barcan remained offensive and defensive weapons for Campbellsville in the first points too, notching multiple kills and blocks. However, as the Tigers relented their vigor,  Cougars stepped up with fight, keeping the score tight the remainder of the set. Mount Vernon proved to the Tigers they weren't done fighting. The Cougars were victorious in the third set, 25-22.

The fourth set started off with a missed serve from the Cougars followed by an ace from the Tigers. Campbellsville rode that wave with multiple kills from Barcan. The game was back-and-forth with more than six lead changes in the set. The Cougars tried to make multiple adjustments to try to stop the Tigers offensively, however the Tigers had again found their rhythm and were too efficient for the Cougars. Campbellsville won the fourth and final set, 25-20.

The Tigers will be back in action tomorrow, February 1st in Gosser Gymnasium. The Tigers will take on Cornerstone University, the match is set to start at 1 pm EST.

• In their match with the Reinhardt Eagles, Campbellsville was led by Madrigal's 12 kills, freshman libero Andrew Ovalle's 15 digs, and Alonzo Vega's 39 assists.

• Against the Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars, McKinney recorded a career-high nine blocks.

• Reflecting the closeness of their match facing Reinhardt, Campbellsville bested the Eagles in hitting percentage (.339 to .269), kills (57 to 47), assists (51 to 44), and digs (40 to 37).