Men’s Volleyball: Olivet wins two matches at Marian Tournament

FOND DU LAC, Wis. – The University of Olivet men's volleyball team won two matches at the Marian (Wis.) University Tournament, defeating North Park (Ill.) University in four sets before sweeping Calvin University in three sets.

• Final Score: North Park defeated Olivet 23-25, 25-22, 26-24, 33-31
• Location: Sadoff Gymnasium; Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
• Records: Olivet 1-1 overall, North Park 1-1 overall

• In the first set, neither team was able to gain a two-point lead until the Vikings went ahead 21-19. The teams traded points to make the score 22-20. The Comets scored the next two points on kills to level the score. Olivet tied the game one more time at 23-23 before North Park scored the last two points to win the set, 25-23.
• Except for two early tied scores, the Comets led the second set from start-to-finish. Olivet's largest lead in the set was six points on four occasions.
• The third set saw the Comets build an early two-point lead twice. After the second time at 7-5, the Vikings scored the next two points to even the score. From there, points were exchanged to create multiple tied scores and lead changes. With the score knotted at 24-24, Olivet scored the final two points on a kill and ball handling error for a 26-24 win.
• In the fourth set, the Comets gained a three-point advantage at 5-2. North Park came back to tie the score at 6-6. Like the third set, the teams then traded points until the Vikings seized their largest lead of the set at 15-13. Olivet fought back to go ahead by four points, 20-16. North Park scored the next four points. Both teams fought off multiple set points down the stretch until the Comets prevailed with a 33-31 victory.

• For the match, Olivet recorded 61 kills, tying for the third-best total in school history for a match.
• Senior Quinn Dickerson led all players with 22 kills. The 22 kills are third-most in school history for a match.
• Seniors Kai Hartman and Deontay Thomas each had 10 kills.
• Senior Everett Haynes notched 54 set assists.
• Senior Will Mensching had 17 digs.

• Final Score: Olivet defeated Calvin 25-23, 25-23, 25-17
• Location: Sadoff Gymnasium; Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
• Records: Olivet 2-1 overall, Calvin 0-3 overall

• The Comets raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening set. Dowing 12-7, the Knights used a 7-0 run to take a 14-12 lead. Following an exchange of points, Olivet was able to even the score at 19-19. Calvin had an answer each time and tied the score at 20-20, 21-21 and 22-22. A ball handling error and kill by Hartman got the Comets to set point. A Knight kill made the score 24-23 before a kill by freshman Ke'Shon Johnson handed the set to Olivet.
• Calvin led 3-2 in the second set before a 3-0 Comet run made the score 5-3. The Knights responded with a 4-1 run to go ahead 7-6. Another 3-0 run put Olivet ahead 9-7. The Comets did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the set.
• In the third set, Thomas stepped to the service line with Olivet down 12-11. His service helped the Comets score six straight points to put them ahead 17-12. That run was just the start of 14-4 scoring spurt to end the set.

• For the match, Olivet pounded down 29 kills.
• Hartman tallied 11 kills.
• Junior Thayne Bilicki was next with six kills.
• Haynes dished out 23 set assists, while collecting six digs.
• Thomas had four kills to go along with a team-leading 11 digs and two service aces.

• Olivet heads 30 minutes east to Plymouth, Wisconsin, for two matches tomorrow at Lakeland University. The Comets play the host Muskies at 2 p.m. ET, followed by a match against Illinois Wesleyan University.