RICHMOND, Ind. — The Campbellsville University men's volleyball team set out on the road Friday for a conference match-up against the Indiana University East Red Wolves at Lingle Court. Showing their resilience, the Tigers continued their groundbreaking season with a straight-set sweep over the Red Wolves (25-19, 25-22, 25-19).
- The #4 Campbellsville Tigers fought off another tough conference opponent to continue their unbeatable season, pushing their historic record to 19-0 overall and 7-0 in conference play.
- Freshman outside hitter Savvas Christou led the team with an impressive stat line, tallying a team-high eight kills, four total blocks, and two service aces.
- Sophomore outside hitter Ayoube Hamadache and senior opposite Denzel Madrigal provided critical offensive support, putting down seven kills apiece.
- Setter Alonzo Vega continued to orchestrate a historic season, running a seamless offense with a match-high 35 assists.
- On the defensive side of the net, sophomore libero Andrew Ovalle extended long rallies for the Tigers by picking up a match-high 13 digs.
- Campbellsville will return home to Gosser Gymnasium to host Cumberland University on Tuesday, March 17, in hopes of extending their unblemished record.
The Tigers started the match in dominant pursuit, quickly taking the momentum by jumping out to a 3-0 advantage. From there, Campbellsville displayed its wide range of talent from all areas of the court. Unable to silence the Tigers' attack, the Red Wolves were forced to call a timeout trailing 14-7 in hopes of extinguishing the fire Campbellsville had created. No matter the efforts made by IU East, setter
Alonzo Vega continued to feed the hot hands of middle blocker
Fernando Rodriguez and outside hitter
Savvas Christou. Both attackers poured in four kills in the opening frame to secure the 25-19 victory.
With the start of the second set, the Red Wolves came out with renewed energy that put the Tigers under pressure. Jumping to their first lead of the night, IU East created separation at 9-6. From then on, the Tigers were hungry to stay competitive, refusing to let the Red Wolves pull more than two points away. Despite battling through a string of attacking errors, Campbellsville traded side-outs point-for-point. The Tigers finally reclaimed the lead on the back of a towering block from Rodriguez and
Ayoube Hamadache. The second set came to an exciting end as the Tigers rode their newfound success to the finish line, claiming the final two points via a monster solo block from
Denzel Madrigal and another powerful kill from Christou to win 25-22.
Even with the Tigers stealing the late victory in the second, the competition did not dwindle at the start of the third set. Rallies went back-and-forth between the two squads before the Tigers began to thrive on the defensive end. A momentum-shifting sequence featured three consecutive Campbellsville blocks followed by a service ace from Christou, creating a commanding 16-9 lead. To halt Campbellsville's success, IU East called a timeout to regroup, but right out of the break, Hamadache struck with back-to-back terminal kills. The Tigers continued to fire on all cylinders, and the Red Wolves were unable to mount a late comeback to extend the match. With a final kill from freshman
Eduardo Polli, the Tigers took the third set 25-19 to complete the sweep.
