BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Adrian College men's volleyball team traveled to Buffalo, New York to participate in Sunday's Medaille Trimatch. Today, the Bulldogs saw a 3-1 victory over Medaille in match one and a 3-0 defeat to Elmira in match two. During match one, Beck Fieldhouse recorded a match-high 12 kills. In match two, Chase Heuer would lead all players with 11 kills.
MATCH ONE
The Bulldogs would never trail during the entirety of the first set Sunday morning. After Medaille tied the set up at three all early on, the men's volleyball team shot off on a 12-6 run, to take a 15-9 lead over the Mavericks. While on the scoring run, Bulldogs Gavin Yonker, Jalen Adams, and Zach Molnar recorded kills, while sophomore Beck Fieldhouse capitalized on a service ace. During the first set, the Bulldogs would lead by as much as six points on four separate occasions. In the opening set, Adrian College would not only lead the Mavericks in points, but they would also best Medaille in kills (9-2), service aces (2-1), blocks (3-2), and attack attempts (25-20).
The Mavericks would win set two by a score of 27-25. During the second frame of play, the Bulldogs would lead on three separate occasions but were unable to build momentum in the process. After trailing Medallie 21-16 in the later stages of the set, the men's volleyball team completed an efficient 7-2 scoring run to tie the set at 24 all. After cashing in on a Medaille service error, Andrew Gawrisch recorded back-to-back service aces, while Adams followed up with back-to-back kills. At the run's end, Adams and Fieldhouse would complete kills from assists by teammates Gawrish and Jacob Rembulat to bring the set to a 24-24 deadlock. Despite tying the set up at 24 apiece, the Mavericks would score three out of the last four recorded points to take the second set 27-25 over the Bulldogs.
After losing the second set, the Bulldogs responded to their foes by winning the third set 25-18 to take a 2-1 lead over the Mavericks. After facing a 5-1 deficit early on in the set, junior Branden Gula took it upon himself and willed the Bulldogs into the lead. With the help of a Maverick attacking error, Gula recorded a kill and three service aces to give the men's volleyball team their first lead of the set at 6-5 over Medallie. The Mavericks would eventually take back the lead at 8-7 for only a split moment, as the Bulldogs switched gears and dominated the second half of the set. After facing their one-point deficit, the men's volleyball team took control and outscored the Mavericks 15-9 with a balanced attack by Gawrisch, Adams, Gula, Fieldhouse, and Yonker. Gawrisch would lead all Bulldogs during the run with three kills en route to the team's second set victory.
The Bulldogs would follow up their third set victory with a close-out 25-22 fourth-set win over the Mavericks. During the fourth, the Bulldogs would face a deficit as large as one point and would lead by as many as five points with neither team creating a sizable lead through the first half of the set. With the score tied at 11 all, Garrett Leaver would sub in and helped propel the Bulldogs to a 6-1 scoring boost. The Bulldogs capitalized on four attack errors and saw kills from Gula and Yonker to put the Bulldogs up 17-12. However, the Mavericks fought back and eventually tied the set at 20 apiece after recording an 8-3 run. With the set even at 20, the Bulldogs would end the match, outscoring their foes 5-2 with the help of three kills by Fieldhouse and two errors by Medaille.
Top Dawgs
In the first match of the day, Fieldhouse led all players with 12 kills and Gula had a match-high four aces.
MATCH TWO
In the second match of the day against Elmira College, the men's volleyball team was defeated three sets to none. Down 16-11 midway through the first set, the men's volleyball team would cut the deficit to three after recording a quick 4-2 spurt after two kills from Fieldhouse, and one each from Bell and Heuer. Despite the run, the Bulldogs would drop the first after being outscored 5-3 in the final frames of the set by Elmira.
Adrian College began the second set with a strong offensive performance with kills from Molnar, Heuer, and Fieldhouse en route to a 6-2 lead early on. After a kill by Gula to put the men's volleyball team ahead 11-8, Elmira would record an 8-2 run to take a 16-13 lead. The Bulldogs would battle back and eventually cut the Elmira lead to one at 21-20 after capitalizing on back-to-back attack errors. However, Elmira would conclude the set with a 4-1 advantage to take a 2-0 lead into the third and final set.
After tying the third set at one all, off an Elmira service error, the men's volleyball team was unable to even the score against the Eagles. Down 10-5, Heuer would record Adrian College's next three points to bring the men's volleyball team within four with the score at 12-8. Elmira responded and outscored the Bulldogs 13-8 to take the third set, and the match victory.
Top Dawgs
During the match, Heuer posted a match-high 12 kills and tied a team-high one service ace. Fieldhouse was second on the team in kills with seven and supplied one service ace as well.
Historical Notes
With today's 3-1 win over Medaille, the men's volleyball team improved its second-best regular single-season record as a member of the NCAA with its 13th win of the season. The men's volleyball team's current NCAA regular single-season win total is 16, which was set in 2019.
Up Next
The men's volleyball team will host Baldwin Wallace in a pivotal Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League conference match at Merillat Sport and Fitness Center on Tuesday, March 21, at 7:00 PM. The Bulldogs will close out the regular season with six straight conference matches (including Tuesday's match) as they search for their first-ever MCVL tournament berth.
