Klusman's Career-High 22 Kills Leads Griffins Past Hawks

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Behind a career-high 22-kill performance from Mark Klusman, the Fontbonne University men's volleyball team earned a four-set win over Hunter on Tuesday.

Final: Fontbonne 3, Hunter 1 (24-26, 25-19, 25-21, 27-25)

Location: New York, N.Y.

Records: Fontbonne 14-1, Hunter 10-5

How It Happened

In the first set, the Hawks jumped out to a 15-10 lead on a Qendrim Shala kill. Fontbonne went on to retake the lead at 23-22 on a solo block from Braden Woolsey. However, the Hawks closed out the set on a 4-1 run en route to the 26-24 win.

In the second set, it was the Griffins this time around taking a 12-8 advantage on Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell's kill. Fontbonne stretched the lead out to 23-17 on Cameron Way's service ace and were able to go on for the 25-19 victory on Brendon Schwartze's kill.

After a kill from Christian Maisonet gave Hunter a 15-11 lead in the third, the Griffins answered with a 7-0 run to grab a 18-15 lead. Later in the set, the Hawks trimmed it down to 21-20 on Michael Jazgarski's kill, but that'd be as close as they'd get with Fontbonne finishing it off for the 25-21 win.

In the fourth, once again it was the Hawks taking a 16-12 lead on a block assist from Cyrus De Guzman and Blake Hogan. The two teams went on to tie five different times as they met-up once more at 24-24 on Klusman's kill.

Hunter went on to regain the lead on Hogan's kill, but Fontbonne ended the set on a kill from Woolsey, an attack error and another kill from Klusman for the 27-25 set and match win.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne recorded at least 50 kills for the second straight game. They tied its season-high with 68 digs.
• The team set a new season-high mark at the net with 16 block assists.
• The Hawks ended with 58 kills and a .151 hitting percentage.
• Hunter ended with 60 digs, but had its struggles from the service line with 12 service errors.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Klusman led with a career-high 22 kills and 10 digs.
• Emir Hadzisalihovic added 11 kills, five digs, two solo blocks, and four block assists.
• Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell registered his third double-double in his last four with 41 assists and 13 digs.
• Zach Rothstein posted a season-high 20 digs.

Hunter Leaders

• Shala led with 20 kills, a .212 hitting percentage and 10 digs.
• Setter Alec Helford had 46 assists and 10 digs.
• Chris Scandole posted a team-high 19 digs.

Up Next

The Griffins are back at it tomorrow night against York. First-service at 6:30 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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