ADRIAN, Mich. – On Saturday afternoon, the Adrian College men's volleyball team picked up 3-0 victories over Maranatha Baptist University and Hiram College, en route to capturing their 11th and 12th victories of the 2023 season. Despite the team's regular season success, the program is still not satisfied and is eyeing a first-ever conference tournament berth.      

MATCH ONE

The Bulldogs took care of business in their opening match Saturday against Maranatha Baptist, sweeping the Sabercats three sets to none. 

"Getting wins is fun but we want to do it on the matches that count and that's conference matches", emphasized men's volleyball coach Jose Soto. During the first set against the Sabercats, the Bulldogs would never trail and led by as many as 15. The men's volleyball team made a statement to start the match, as they outscored Maranatha Baptist 15-2, after multiple service aces by Chase Heuer. 

"We want to make our conference tournament. I know for a fact that we haven't made our conference tournament as of yet in our program's history", explained Soto. Keeping their momentum up in the second set, the Bulldogs doubled up the Sabercats on multiple occasions and continued to apply the pressure. The men's volleyball team would see their largest lead in the second set at 16-8, after capitalizing on a Maranatha Baptist attack error. After the Sabercats cut the lead to six at 18-13, the Bulldogs would end the set on a 7-4 advantage after kills from Jackson Palmitier, Jalen Adams, and Gavin Yonker.   

Midway through the second set, the Bulldogs asserted their dominance after a trifecta of kills by Adams and Heuer to take a 14-6 lead midway through the second set.

"That is the expectation, play like we played today and make the conference tournament", explained coach Soto. The Bulldogs refused to take their foot off the gas and outscored the Sabercats on a 5-1 run to conclude the second set with a victory. 

In the third and final set, Adrian College would double up their foes on multiple occasions. Putting a stamp on the contest, the Bulldog opened the third set with a 14-6 advantage after a barrage of kills from Jake Rybka, Heuer, David Barona, and Adams. At the conclusion of the set, the Bulldogs would see a nine-point lead after an attack error by the Sabercats. The error concluded a 5-1 run for the men's volleyball squad and improved their lead to 24-15. The Bulldogs would end the match on a Sabercat service error. 

As the second half of the season heats up, the Bulldogs will have a total of seven Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League conference matches remaining this year before the beginning of the conference tournament. "Last year we went 4-4 in the conference, we want to go a minimum 5-3. If we go 5-3 in the conference, we make the conference tournament", noted Soto.



MATCH TWO

In the second match of Saturday afternoon, the Bulldogs hosted Hiram College, whom the Bulldogs had previously defeated three sets to two earlier in the season. This time around, the Bulldogs were able to sweep Hiram effectively three sets to none at Merillat Sport and Fitness Center. 

During match two, freshman Carson Bell recorded four blocks while Andrew Gawrisch and Brandon Gula each chipped in with one. In the first set, after Hiram scored two straight to tie the set up at 15 all, Bell would come up with a block to shift back the momentum in Adrian's favor. The block was crucial, putting a stop to Hiram's run, in which they had previously scored three out of the last four points of the set.   

"For us coaches in the volleyball world we see all of those block touches and how significant they are", explained Soto. 

As a team, the Bulldogs recorded four blocks in the second match of the afternoon. 

"Our game got so much better this past match because we focused on blocking alone, our blocking has propelled us forward as a team", credited Soto.

The Bulldogs would dominate the second set, winning 25-10. During the set, Gula, Heuer, Zach Molnar, Beck Fieldhouse, Bell, and Gawrisch, recorded kills for the Bulldogs. 

In the third set, the Bulldogs would trail by a single point at 5-4 early on. After dropping behind early, Adrian College responded and completed a 13-7 run with kills from Heuer, Gula, Fieldhouse, Molnar, and Bell. The group helped propel the men's volleyball team to a 17-11 lead late in the set. Despite the six-point lead, Hiram stormed back and cut the advantage to a four-point Bulldog lead at 21-17. Looking back at the game, Coach Soto explained that a key untouchable he would like to see among his team is having a more consistent killer attitude. 

"We see it here and there, we want to see it consistently across the board. We can't be in the spur of the moment, one set on, and one set not on. It has to be the entire match," emphasized Soto. 

After halting the Hiram run, the Bulldogs would capitalize on service and attacking errors,as well as two kills by Fieldhouse to conclude the match. 

Coach Soto is ready for his team to take their strides to the next level by improving their mental aspects of the game, "If we have that edge the entire match, I think we win more matches and we win matches that we have won in a quicker, more efficient fashion. We just need that killer instinct to be there the entire time", explained Coach Soto. 

Top Dawgs

In game one, Heuer led all players with 10 kills and five aces, while in game two, Fieldhouse had a game-best 11 kills and Gawrisch recorded a game-high six aces. 

Historical Notes

For the second time in program history as a member of the NCAA, the men's volleyball team has won over 10 games in a season. The first season the Bulldogs would win over 10 games as a non-club team was in 2019 when the men's volleyball team would win 16 contests.    


Up Next

The Bulldogs will travel to Angola, Indiana to face Trine University in an MCVL showdown on Wednesday, March 15, at 7:00 PM. Since 2019, the Bulldogs have maintained a four games to two advantage over the Thunder. Live stream and Live Stats information can be found under the men's volleyball schedule.