Griffins fall in CVC weekend

St. Louis- Men's Volleyball had a tough Continental Volleyball Conference schedule this weekend at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE).

Fontbonne first fell to MSOE 25-20, 25-17 and 25-21. Aaron Graue recorded 11 kills, Justin Winkelmann 21 assists, and Jimmy Stika dug out 10 attack attempts from the Raiders.

In their next match, the Griffins faced #4 ranked Carthage. Carthage overtook Fontbonne 25-17,25-13 and 25-15. Stika and Winkelmann combined for 21 digs over the three games to try and set up the Griffin attack, however Fontbonne's negative kill percentages hurt the Griffins the most. Last year Carthage was the NCAA Div. III men's volleyball runner up, after falling to Springfield 3-0.

On Sunday, Fontbonne stepped onto the court to face #5 ranked UC-Santa Cruz. Last year the Banana Slugs advanced to the NCAA Div. III Championships, but fell in the semi-finals to Carthage. UC-Santa Cruz overpowered Fontbonne 25-18, 25-17 and 25-21. This time Braxton Payne recorded 15 digs for the Griffins and Graue recorded 11 digs and 11 kills.

Fontbonne's final opponent of the weekend was a non-conference match against Carthage. Carthage rolled over the Griffins 25-19, 25-18 and 25-16. Payne recorded a season-high 13 kills and Winkelmann ended the match with 21 assists. Leading the defensive stance was Dominic Prospero with 14 digs and Stika added another 12.

Over the 4-match weekend, Winkelmann accumulated 74 assists, Stika 42 digs, Prospero 36 digs, Payne 34 digs and 26 kills, and Graue 35 kills.

Fontbonne returns to Wisconsin next weekend to play Thiel, Endicott, Medaille and MSOE. The matches are part of the Carthage/MSOE Invitational.