Men's Volleyball Pushes No. 5 Benedictine To The Limit In Tough Loss, Sets Program Record With 24 Block Assists

LISLE, Ill.—The Fontbonne University men's volleyball team statistically played one of its best matches on the year against No. 5-ranked Benedictine, however, the Eagles fended off Fontbonne for the win.

Final: No. 5 Benedictine 3, Fontbonne 2 (19-25, 25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 15-11)

Location: Lisle, Ill.

Records: No. 5 Benedictine 3-2, Fontbonne 0-8

How It Happened

In the first set, the Griffins trailed 8-5 but the team rattled off an 8-1 run with Ivan Rendon's service ace giving Fontbonne the 13-9 lead. The team kept rolling along right from there with a block assist from Lee Kruetzmann and Jacob Hartmann giving them the 21-16 lead.

They never relinquished the advantage the rest of the way as the went on for the 25-19 win on another block assist from Braden Woolsey and Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell.

Offensively, the Griffins dominated in the first with 15 kills and just for errors for a .333 hitting percentage. The Eagles, meanwhile, totaled 12 kills and a .135 hitting percentage.

In the second set, the two teams met-up at 10-10, though a 3-0 run by the Eagles gave them some breathing room on John Davis' kill. They were all even once more at 17-17 on an Eagles attack error, however Benedictine went on a 7-0 run and finished the set off on Joe Lock's kill for the 25-19 victory.

In the third, the Griffins were able to grab a 15-13 lead on an Eagles attack error and that forced the Benedictine staff to take a timeout. Out of the break, the two teams went back-and-forth but a kill from Nate Paasch evened it up at 21-21. The Eagles, though closed out the set on a 4-1 run to secure the 25-22 win.

In the fourth, the Eagles started out fast with an 8-3 lead. Fontbonne gathered themselves and eventually squared up with Benedictine, 15-15, on Braden Woolsey's service ace.

The Eagles responded with a 4-0 run and still held a marginal 21-19 lead on Jacob Strande's kill. The Griffins kept on battling and closed out the set on a 6-1 run for the 25-22 win and force a fifth and final set.

In the finale, the Eagles grabbed a 7-3 lead on a John Davis kill. The Griffins clawed its way back into it with Cameron Graves kill tying it up, 9-9. However, the Eagles went on a 3-0 run and despite Fontbonne cutting it down to 12-11, the Eagles closed out the match on a 3-0 run for the 15-11 set and match win.

Inside The Numbers

• The Griffins tied its season-high with 56 kills and set a new season-high with a .256 hitting percentage.
• Defensively, they totaled a season-high 57 digs.
• The 24 block assists at the net are a new program record.
• The Eagles ended with 68 kills and a .235 hitting percentage.
• They posted 50 digs, five solo blocks, and 11 block assists.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Braden Woolsey posted a season and career-high 15 kills and a .462 hitting percentage. He also got it done at the net with five block assists.
• Cameron Graves recorded his first collegiate double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs.
• Grant Garza also set a career-high with 12 digs and a .409 hitting percentage.
• Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell was one assist off tying his career-high as he ended with 53 assists, five digs, and four block assists. He also surpassed the 2500 assist mark in his career.
• Zach Rothstein added a season-high 21 digs and now sits just two away from becoming the first men's volleyball player at Fontbonne with 1,000 collegiate digs.
• Lee Kruetzmann led with a match and season-high six block assists.

Benedictine Leaders

• Jacob Gryo led with a match-high 17 kills and a .444 hitting percentage.
• John Davis added 15 kills and Elijah Medlock contributed 11.
• Tim Folliard handed out 27 of the 63 assists.
• Defensively, the Eagles were led by Thomas Samaras' 18 digs.

Up Next

The Griffins return to action this Friday at Greenville University when they'll take on Concordia Chicago at 1 p.m., followed by a 5 p.m., contest against Rockford.

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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