Griffins team up to defeat Marian in five sets

St. Louis, Mo. - Fontbonne's explosive first-set win over Marian University was hindered with two straight losses until the Griffins came from behind in the fourth set to force the tie-breaker and go on to win. The Griffins are now 10-6 overall and 3-5 in conference.

After a solo block by Marian in the fourth, the Griffins trailed 19-23 when Brendon Schwartze started the home team's momentum with a kill. Emir Hadzisalihovic went to the backline and didn't falter, despite two timeouts by the Sabres. The Griffins led 24-23 after to Marian attack errors and two Griffin blocks, teamed up by Schwartze and Tony Pitaro. Marian tied the game on a kill but Fontbonne answered with a right-side cross-court kill by TJ Vorva and a kill from middle hitter Pitaro.

Trailing 8-9 in the fifth set, Fontbonne posted four straight points to lead 12-9 but Marian scored two more to pull within one. Two Marian errors gave the Griffins a 14-11 advantage but then the Griffins gave up two points themselves until Schwartze scored the game-winning point on a hard cross near the line.

Tonight was a true team win as Schwartze and Stephen Lendy tallied 12 kills with Vorva in the mix with 11. On the defensive side, five Griffins recorded double-digit digs in Gabe Grote (10), Schwartze (12), Lendy and Jimmy Stika each had 14 and setter Jacob Lendy recorded the team-high 17 digs. Jacob Lendy totaled 29 assists in the win while his brother hit .385. James Sauermann hit .455 with six kills on 11 attempts while Jacob Lendy and Brendon Schwartze each totaled three blocks.

Fontbonne narrowly edged Marian in hitting (.211-.205), serve receive (.953-.931) and team blocks (7.5-5).

Fontbonne will take on MCVL opponent Lakeland Saturday at 2 p.m. before hosting their final home game of the season at 5 p.m. Before their game against Illinois Tech, the Griffins will honor outgoing senior Jimmy Stika.