Griffins Win Its Home Opener Against Adrian

Photo taken by Cecilia Jones

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University men's volleyball team treated its home fans to a four set (23-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-18) victory over Adrian on Friday night.

The Griffins (6-2; 1-0 MCVL), posted 55 kills and a .266 hitting percentage against the Bulldogs. Mark Klusman broke out with a career-high 15 kills and a .250 hitting percentage. Brendon Schwartze filled up the stat sheet with 12 kills, a .435 hitting percentage, four digs and three block assists.

Stephen Lendy, meanwhile, was busy on both sides of the net with 11 kills and 10 digs. Emir Hadzisalihovic also had a strong game with eight kills and a match-high .467 hitting percentage.

Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell dished out a career-high 31 assists, while Zach Rothstein finished with a match-high 13 digs.

Adrian (2-5; 0-1 SLIAC), started out fast against the Griffins but its 26 attack errors eventually caught up to them. Noah Marcinkowski paced them with 13 kills, while Joseph Campana totaled a match-high 33 assists. Kyle Bell ended the evening with a team-high 10 digs.

In the first set, it was the Bulldogs gaining the upper-hand at 12-10 on Kevin Curley's kill. The Griffins cut it down to 15-13, but a 4-0 run, capped off by a Griffins set error, gave them a 19-13 advantage.

Later, Fontbonne narrowed the deficit down to 24-23, however, Curley finished off the set with a kill to give them the opener, 25-23.

In the second set, the Griffins took a 10-6 lead on consecutive kills from Klusman. They maintained its marginal lead at 13-11, then expanded it out to 19-14 after Schwartze's kill. It was smooth sailing for the home team from there as they evened up the match at 1-1, taking the second, 25-18.

It was more of the same in the third as Fontbonne earned a 6-0 lead on a Bulldogs attack error. Adrian got back in it and made it a 15-12 outing on Mike Gold's kill.

The Griffins, though answered with a 4-0 run, capped off by a block assist from Schwartze and Hadzisalihovic to push the lead out to seven (19-12). Fontbonne fended off Adrian the rest of the way and won the third, 25-16.

In the fourth, the team saved its best set statically for last. The Griffins finished with 13 kills and just four errors for a match-high .346 hitting percentage.

Stephen Lendy's kill gave the Griffins an 11-7 lead. They stretched its lead to 22-12 on TJ Vorva's kill and despite a late charge from Adrian, the Griffins cruised to the 25-18 set and match win on Nate Paasch's kill.

The team jumps right back into action tomorrow afternoon at home against Olivet. First-serve goes up at 1 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the men's volleyball team.