Griffins fall in first battle of Ohio

Springfield, Ohio - Fontbonne men's volleyball fell to conference foe Wittenberg University Friday night 22-25, 26-28, 20-25. The Griffins drop to 9-88 overall and 4-7 in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League.

Fontbonne led 4-3 in the first set until Wittenberg went on a 4-0 run to lead by two. The Tigers held on for the remainder of the set.

In the second set, Fontbonne trailed 9-10 but scored four unanswered points to lead by three. After grabbing a 22-18 lead, the Griffins struggled with a service error and two attack errors. The Griffins were on the verge of evening the match score as they led 24-21 but gave up two blocks and more service and attack errors as the hosts took a 25-24 lead. The two teams were tied 26-26 until Wittenberg took the set on a kill and block. 

The Griffins led 12-11 in the third set until Wittenberg went on a 10-4 run and finished with the win.

Fontbonne's right-side hitter TJ Vorva tallied the game-high 13 kills while hitting .367 on the night. Stephen Lendy recorded 10 kills while libero Zach Rothstein dug out 16 attacks. Freshman Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell recorded a solo block, 27 assists and 11 digs. 

The Griffins finish playing in Ohio tomorrow afternoon with a 2pm Eastern game at Mount St. Joseph University.