Men's Volleyball Drops Tough Contests Against Aurora And Augustana

AURORA, Ill.—The Fontbonne University men's volleyball team dropped two tough matches on Saturday falling to Aurora in five sets and Augustana in three.

Final: Aurora 3, Fontbonne 2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 16-14)

Location: Aurora, Ill.

Records: Aurora 3-0, Fontbonne 0-6

How It Happened

In the first set, it was back-and-forth play early but a kill from Nate Paasch and a service ace from Braden Woolsey had Fontbonne ahead, 13-11. The two teams met-up at 16-16, but a quick 3-1 run by Fontbonne had them ahead 20-17.

The team never relinquished its advantage the rest of the way as a Spartans attack error gave Fontbonne the 25-22 win.

After the Spartans grabbed a 9-5 lead, the Griffins answered with a 6-0 run to gain the 10-9 advantage on Cameron Graves' kill. Later, the two teams were all square at 13-13, but the Spartans went on a 5-1 run to lead 18-14 on Justin Elliot's kill. Aurora was able to hang on the rest of the way for the 25-19 win.

In the third, the Griffins led 13-12 on a block assist from Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell, Jacob Hartmann, and Lee Kruetzmann.

However, a 3-0 run capped off by a block assist from Tim Breiter and Emmanuel Chaidez had the Spartans ahead, 15-13. The Griffins kept on battling as a kill from Braden Woolsey put the team down 21-20. The Spartans, though were able to finish off the set on Justin Elliott's kill for the 25-22 victory.

In the fourth, the Griffins started fast with a 5-0 lead and expanded on it to 14-6 on Ivan Rendon's service ace. The Spartans made things very interesting late as they crawled all the way back to make it 24-23, but the Griffins finished them off on Jacob Hartmann's kill for the 25-23 win.

In the fifth, the Griffins were on top 6-4 on Lee Kruetzmann's kill. Aurora answered with a 5-0 run to lead, 10-6. Fontbonne came right back outscoring the Spartans 5-1 run to tie it up, 11-11, on Graves' solo block.

A kill from Graves once more evened it up at 14-14, but that'd be the final point for Fontbonne with a service error and a kill from Jack Fischer to secure the 16-14 set and match win.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne set new season-highs with 56 kills, 55 assists, and 59 digs.
• Aurora ended 59 kills and a .245 hitting percentage.
• At the net, the Spartans were dominant with 21 block assists.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Cameron Graves had a career-night with 19 kills, a .282 hitting percentage, eight digs, and two block assists.
• Nate Paasch and Braden Woolsey tied with eight kills each.
• Setter Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell recorded his third double-double on the year with a season-high 49 assists and 10 digs.
• Sebastian Roca finished with a career-high 14 digs.

Aurora Leaders

• Thomas Kovanic led with a team-high 13 kills. Emmanuel Chaidez finished with 10 and a .261 hitting percentage.
• Setter James Karwin ended with 48 assists and Brandon Langys concluded with 11 digs.

Game Two

Final: Augustana 3, Fontbonne 0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-20)

Location: DSAC

Records: Augustana 3-2, Fontbonne 0-7

How It Happened

In the first set, an attack error by Dillan Baum had Fontbonne ahead, 10-7. The Vikings chipped away at the deficit and went on a 9-3 run with a block assist from Jason Szara, John Cunningham, and Justin Murphy giving them the 16-13 lead and forcing Fontbonne to take a timeout.

Out of the break, the Griffins trailed 21-20 on Graves' kill. That'd be the teams final point, however, as the Vikings closed out the set on a 4-0 run for the win.

In the second, it was the Spartans this time around leading 10-6 on a Fontbonne attack error. Later, the Griffins trailed 15-13, but were able to erase that on a 3-0 run with Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell's service ace giving Fontbonne a 16-15 lead.

The two teams went point-for-point with Fontbonne still on top, 20-19. However, the Vikings went on a 3-0 run and never looked back with Ryan Hirschel's kill making it a 25-22 victory for Augustana.

In the third, the Griffins took the 6-2 lead on a Graves kill. The Vikings got it going with a 7-0 run to force Fontbonne to take a timeout.

They expanded that lead out to 19-11, but the Griffins weren't done as a 5-0 run had them right back in it down 19-16. However, the Vikings put some distance between themselves and the Griffins going on a 4-0 run and hanging on for the 25-20 set and match win.

Inside The Numbers

• The Griffins finished with 22 kills and 28 errors for a negative -.070 hitting percentage.
• Augustana ended with 36 kills and a .140 hitting percentage.
• The Vikings posted 24 block assists.

Augustana Leaders

• Jason Szara led with 10 kills and a .125 hitting percentage.
• Ryan Hirschel and Sanchit Khaitan tied with 15 assists each.
• Matthew Schiferl contributed seven digs.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Graves led with nine kills.
• Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell made it double-double number four with 15 assists and 10 digs.

Up Next

The Griffins look to halt its skid against No. 5-ranked Benedictine on Sunday. First-service at 12 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.

Make sure to follow us on all our social media accounts: Twitter (@FBUGriffins), Instagram (@fbugriffins) and Facebook (/FontbonneUGriffins).