Men’s Volleyball: Olivet drops four-set match to Aquinas in home-opener

OLIVET, Mich. – The University of Olivet men's volleyball team suffered a four-set loss to Aquinas College in its home-opener tonight at the Cutler Event Center.

• Final Score: Aquinas defeated Olivet 25-22, 25-20, 19-25, 25-22
• Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 2-4 overall, Aquinas 2-0 overall

• The Comets built a four-point lead, 11-7 in the first set. The Saints came back with four straight points – two kills and two Olivet attack errors – to even the score. The Comets responded with three straight points to take a 14-11 lead. Aquinas used a 5-0 run to turn a 17-14 deficit into a 19-17 lead. A kill by senior Deontay Thomas followed by ace for Thomas leveled the score at 19-19. Those points ignited a 5-1 run to put Olivet ahead 22-20. The Saints scored the final points to pull out the come-from-behind 25-22 win.
• The early stages of the second set featured four tied scores and neither team holding a significant lead. Clinging to a 9-8 lead, Aquinas reeled off to five straight points to go up 14-8. Olivet closed the gap to two points twice but never got any closer, as the Saints went on to win the set 25-20.
• The third set was like the second with four deadlocks in the beginning. After an Aquinas service error tied the set at 4-4, back-to-back kills by seniors Quinn Dickerson and Kai Hartman put the Comets ahead 6-4. Olivet did not give up the lead for the rest of the set as it led by as many as 10 points on three occasions. After the third time at 24-14, the Saints scored five straight points to cut their deficit in half. A kill by freshman Ke'Shon Johnson ended the set in the Comets' favor, 25-19.
• The teams traded the first 10 points to create five ties. Following the 5-5 tie, Aquinas scored three straight points. Late in the set, Olivet did manage to make it a one-point difference on four occasions, but each time the Saints had an answer to go up two.
• For the match, Aquinas totaled 46 kills to 41 for the Comets. The Saints also recorded a higher attack percentage, .184 to .131.

• Hartman shared match-high honors with 12 kills.
• Dickerson was next with nine.
• Thomas tallied six kills to go along with a team-leading 11 digs.
• Senior Will Mensching also had double-digit digs with 10.
• Senior Everett Haynes recorded 27 set assists.

• Olivet heads to De Pere, Wisconsin, for the St. Norbert College Tournament. On Saturday, the Comets face Augustana (Ill.) College at 1 p.m. ET, followed by a match against the host Green Knights. On Sunday, Olivet plays University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 11 a.m. ET.