Men's Volleyball Starts Home Stretch With Win Over Mount Union

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—After dropping the opening set, the Fontbonne University men's volleyball team rolled past the Mount Union Purple Raiders in four sets.

Final: Fontbonne 3, Mount Union 1 (25-27, 25-17, 25-16, 25-15)

Location: DSAC

Records: Fontbonne (4-11; 2-1 MCVL), Mount Union (10-3; 1-1 MCVL)

How It Happened

It was back-and-forth play early but a solo block from Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell had the Griffins ahead, 12-11. The two teams went point-for-point but a Fontbonne attack error gave Mount Union a 24-22 advantage and that forced the Griffins staff to take a timeout.

Out of the break, a kill and a service ace from Braden Woolsey evened it back up, 24-24. After both teams collected a point, the Purple Raiders finished the set off on a Fontbonne attack error and a kill from Justin Sibbel for the 27-25 win.

In the second set, a 4-0 run from the Griffins gave them a 14-9 lead on consecutive Mount Union attack errors. The team stretched its lead out to 23-16 and never looked back finishing the Purple Raiders off on back-to-back solo blocks from Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell and Cameron Graves for the 25-17 win.

In the third, the Griffins opened with a commanding 15-8 lead, including registering four straight kills from Nate Paasch, Graves (two), and Zach Herran. The team cruised from there for the dominant 25-16 victory.

It was the best set on the night for the Griffins with 17 kills and just one error on 31 swings for a .516 hitting percentage.

In the fourth, the Griffins trailed 10-9 but rattled off a 7-0 run as Sebastian Roca's service ace gave them the 16-10 lead. They went on to outscore the Purple Raiders 9-6 and secured the match win on Braden Woolsey's kill for the 25-15 set and match win.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne posted 55 kills and a .285 hitting percentage in the victory.
• Defensively, they came away with a season-high 58 digs.
• Mount Union was limited to 34 kills and a .073 hitting percentage.
• At the service line, the Purple Raiders committed 13 errors.

Mount Union Leaders

• Justin Sibbel led the Purple Raiders with a team-high 16 kills.
• Setter Jeremy Leyden added 29 assists.
• Defensively, Steven Grenier finished with 15 digs.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Cameron Graves was one of three players with double-digit kills leading the match with 19 and a .316 hitting percentage.
• Nate Paasch finished with a career-high 13 kills on 36 swings.
• Braden Woolsey added 10 kills and zero errors for a match-high .588 hitting percentage.
• Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell collected double-double No. 4 on the year with 49 assists and 10 digs.
• Defensively, Zach Rothstein led with a match-high 16 digs.
• Sebastian Roca and Graves tied with 10.

Up Next

The Griffins are back at home on Sunday afternoon when they'll host Olivet College. First-service 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.

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