Men’s Volleyball: Olivet loses at Marian in season-opener

FOND DU LAC, Wis. – The University of Olivet men's volleyball team opened its season with a four-set loss to the host Sabres on day one of the Marian (Wis.) University Tournament.

• Final Score: Marian defeated Olivet 25-11, 19-25, 25-21, 25-20
• Location: Sadoff Gymnasium; Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
• Records: Olivet 0-1 overall, Marian 1-0 overall

• Marian scored the first four points of the first set. Olivet used a 4-1 run to close the deficit to a point. The Sabres answered with a 5-1 spurt to go up 10-5 and forced the Comets to call their first timeout. Olivet was not able to recover from the deficit, as Marian went on to win the set by a 25-11 score.
• The start of the second set was back-and-forth as there were two lead changes and five tied scores. Trailing 10-9, the Comets used a 5-0 run to take a 14-10 lead. Olivet maintained its advantage for the rest of the set to post a 25-19 victory.
• The third set was like the second set. Neither team was able to gain a lead larger than two points for the first 24 points scored. With the score knotted at 12-12, the Sabres went on a 6-1 run to go up 18-13. The Comets chipped away at their deficit and trailed by only a point, 21-20. Marian scored four of the final five points for a 25-21 win.
• Olivet put the first three points on the scoreboard to start the fourth set. The Comets led by three points on four more occasions. Following the fourth time at 10-7, Marian went on a 6-1 run to go up 13-11. Olivet scored the next point before the Sabres closed the set with a 12-8 spurt to win it, 25-20.
• For the match, the Comets had more kills than Marian. The difference in the match was the Sabres had higher attacking percentage (.234 to .132) along with 12 less service errors (12 to 24).

• Senior Deontay Thomas slammed down a match-high 15 kills.
• Senior Quinn Dickerson registered double digit kills with 11 to go along with a team-best .389 attack percentage.
• Senior Ethan Valente registered seven kills.
• Senior Everett Haynes recorded 37 set assists.
• Haynes and senior Kai Hartman topped the defense with 10 digs apiece.

• The Comets play two more matches tomorrow at the Marian Tournament. Olivet faces North Park (Ill.) University at 11 a.m. ET and Calvin University at approximately 3 p.m. ET.