Griffins Continue Its Winning Ways Against Sabercats And Panthers

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University men's volleyball team improved to 12-0 on Saturday after two more sweeps over Maranatha Baptist and Greenville.

Score: Fontbonne 3, Maranatha Baptist 0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-20)

Location: St. Louis, Mo. (DSAC)

Records: Fontbonne (11-0), Maranatha Baptist (0-13)

How It Happened

In the first set, after the Sabercats took a 7-6 lead, the Griffins answered with a 7-0 run to take a 13-7 lead on an MBU attack error. From there, the Griffins stretched its lead out to 23-15 on Josh Farley's kill and went on for the 25-19 on Mark Klusman's kill.

In the second set, the Griffins opened with a commanding 14-7 advantage. With Fontbonne totaling a match-high 17 kills, a .500 hitting percentage, and holding the Sabercats to a negative -.080 hitting percentage, the Griffins went on for the 25-11 win.

It was more of the same story in the third with consecutive kills from Nate Paasch and Emir Hadzisalihovic that gave Fontbonne a 11-7 lead. The Sabercats kept battling and eventually trimmed the deficit down to 19-16 on Isaac McKee's kill.

However, that'd be as close as they'd get with Tony Brooks finishing the set and the match off with the 25-20 win.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne totaled a season-high 48 kills in a three-set match and finished with a .348 hitting percentage.
• The team set a new season-high with 47 assists.
• Defensively, they held the Sabercats to an overall negative hitting percentage of -.027 

Fontbonne Leaders

• Hadzisalihovic posted 10 kills and zero errors for a .769 hitting percentage.
• Mark Klusman ended with eight kills. Jacob Hartmann and Nate Paasch each hit new season-highs with eight and six kills, respectively.
• Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell handed out 38 assists.
• Defensively, Zach Rothstein led with 10 digs.

Maranatha Baptist Leaders

• Joel Smith posted a team-high six kills and a .211 hitting percentage.
• Taylor Dafoe had 13 assists and Derek Wallis led with eight digs.

Score: Fontbonne 3, Greenville 0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-11)

Location: St. Louis, Mo. (DSAC)

Records: Fontbonne (12-0), Greenville (7-7)

How It Happened

In the first set, back-to-back kills from Klusman and Hadzisalihovic, along with a service ace from Klusman gave Fontbonne a 14-10 lead. Later in the set, the Panthers made it a 21-19 game on George Black's kill, however, the Griffins fended off Greenville's late charge for the 25-21 win.

Fontbonne got the opening win despite just eight kills and a .182 hitting percentage. Greenville had a match-high 15 kills.

The back-and-forth play continued in the second, but a 4-0 run by Greenville gave them a 16-14 lead on a Fontbonne attack error. They were up 19-16, though a kill from Brendon Schwartze, Hadzisalihovic, and a block assist from the duo tied it up at 19-19.

The two teams met-up once more at 22-22, however, the Griffins closed out the set on a 3-1 run as Hadzisalihovic slammed down the kill for the 25-23 win.

In the third, the Griffins saved its best set for last. The team took a commanding 12-4 lead on Farley's kill. With Fontbonne totaling a match-high 14 kills and a .565 hitting percentage, the team never looked back en route to the 25-11 set and match win.

Inside The Numbers

• Offensively, Fontbonne totaled 35 kills and 11 errors for a .267 hitting percentage.
• The team did get it done on the defensive side of the net with 49 digs.
• They set new season-high marks in block assists (12) and total blocks (10).
• Greenville totaled 37 kills for a .173 hitting percentage. The Panthers did commit 16 service errors.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Hadzisalihovic had another strong game with a season-high 12 kills and zero errors for a career-high .857 hitting percentage. It's the fourth time in the last five where he's had zero errors. He also posted a season-high five blocks.
• Klusman had 10 kills and nine digs overall.
• Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell recorded his third double-double with 29 assists and a team-high 12 digs. Rothstein contributed 10 digs.

Greenville Leaders

• George Black compiled a match-high 13 kills.
• Tanner Smith handed out 30 assists and Ryan Nelson led them defensively with 12 digs.

The Griffins return to action next weekend when they'll jump into conference play on the road against Loras on Saturday. First-service at 7 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.

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