Men’s volleyball team loses two matches at Michigan Volleyball Invitational

ADRIAN, Mich. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team dropped a pair of four-set matches this morning at the 2019 Michigan College Volleyball Invitational, hosted by Adrian College and at the Merillat Center in Adrian. The Comets fell to the host Bulldogs and Lawrence Technological Institute.

Final Score: Adrian def. Olivet 22-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-16
Location: Merillat Center; Adrian, Mich.
Records: Olivet 0-3 overall, Adrian 2-1 overall

• In the first set, the Comets were down 5-3. Behind the service of junior Trent Robinson went on an 8-0 run to go up 11-5. Olivet pushed its lead to seven points until Adrian fought back to make the score 23-22. Kills by Robinson and junior Brock Pringle ended the set.
• The Comets held a 5-3 lead in the second set. The Bulldogs answered with a 7-1 run for a 10-6 lead. Olivet was never able to recover from the deficit.
• Adrian scored five of the first six points in the third set. The Comets closed the gap to a single point three times. After the last time at 11-10, the Bulldogs scored three straight points to extend their lead to 14-10. Olivet trimmed its deficit down to two points on four more occasions but got no closer.
• The Comets led the fourth set until Adrian turned a 9-7 deficit into a 10-9 lead. Olivet evened the score at 10-10 and 11-11. Two Bulldog points pushed their lead to 13-11. The Comets netted the next point but that would be the last time the gap was a single point, as Adrian ended the set on a 12-4 scoring spurt.

• Olivet had three players reach double digits in kills, led by Pringle's 13.
• Robinson had 12 kills, and sophomore Dan Hayes notched 10.
• Junior Aaron Giorgi recorded 39 set assists.
• Pringle collected a team-high 10 digs.

• Noah Marcinkowski finished with 18 kills.
• Joseph Campana dished out 44 set assists.
• Kevin Curley tallied a match-best 16 digs.

Final Score: Lawrence Tech def. Olivet 25-23, 25-22, 18-25, 25-13
Location: Merillat Center; Adrian, Mich.
Records: Olivet 0-4 overall, Lawrence Tech 1-3 overall

• The Blue Devils raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first set. The Comets fought back and tied the set at 8-8. The teams exchanged points to keep the score even, 9-9 and 10-10. Lawrence Tech then led by as many as four points, 18-14. Olivet came back to close the gap to a single point on six occasions, with the last time being 24-23.
• In the second set, the Comets held a 12-9 lead. Olivet maintained the advantage until the Blue Devils surged ahead 18-16. Like the first set, the Comets battled and got as close as one point on several occasions. Holding a 23-22 led, Lawrence Tech scored the final two points on Olivet errors.
• The teams traded 4-0 runs to start the third set. The Comets scored six straight points to go up 10-4 and eventually extended their lead to as many as 12 points, 20-8. Late in the set, the Blue Devils trimmed their deficit in half but a kill by Robinson was the final point.
• Lawrence Tech had a wire-to-wire lead in the fourth set.

• Robinson topped Olivet with 17 kills and .306 attack percentage.
• Giorgi added 36 set assists.
• Pringle served five aces to tie the single-match school record.
• Sophomore Tanner Gardenour finished with a team-leading 10 digs.

• Zachary Narkiewicz posted a team-best 11 kills.
• Lawrence Patton was next with 10 kills.
• Gospel Sua had 33 set assists and 11 digs.

UP NEXT

• Olivet travels to play Lawrence Tech next Wednesday, Jan. 16. First serve at the Don Ridler Field House in Southfield is 7 p.m.