Griffins Cruise To Straight Set Wins Over The Sabercats And Falcons

MEQUON, Wis.—The Fontbonne University men's volleyball team improved to 4-0 on the year with straight set sweeps over Maranatha Baptist (25-19, 25-15, 25-17) and Concordia University-Wisconsin (25-14, 25-12, 25-15).

Fontbonne 3 Maranatha Baptist 0

The Griffins (4-0), opened the evening with a sweep over Maranatha Baptist (2-5). The team continues to set new season-high marks each match. Against the Sabercats, Fontbonne posted new season-high totals in kills (47) and assists (46), while owning a .347 hitting percentage.

Individually, freshman Braden Woolsey paced the Griffins with his career-high 10 kills and .714 hitting percentage in just two sets.

Brendon Schwartze posted nine kills and a .538 hitting percentage, while TJ Vorva concluded with six kills and a .600 hitting percentage. Jacob Lendy handed out 21 assists and led them on the defensive side of the net with seven digs.

The Sabercats, though never got into a rhythm against the Griffins. The team finished with 15 kills and 14 errors for a mere .013 hitting percentage.

Derek Wallis led with his team-high seven kills. Matt Wetzel finished with nine assists, while Joel Depue contributed a team-high seven digs.

In the first set, the Griffins opened with a quick 5-0 run on Vorva's kill. Later, the team led 12-9 and expanded on its lead out to 16-9 after a Sabercats attack error. They continued rolling from there as Schwartze's kill gave them a comfortable 23-12 advantage.

Despite a late charge from MBU, Stephen Lendy ended the set with a kill, giving them the 25-19 win. Fontbonne totaled 15 kills and a .281 hitting percentage in the first set, while the Sabercats were held to a .062 hitting percentage.

In the second set, the Griffins carried over its momentum from the opening set win and took an 11-6 lead on Jacob Lendy's service ace.

It was all Fontbonne from there as kills from Vorva and Kolin Scharnhorst (two), gave them a commanding 19-7 lead. They were able to close out MBU and go on for the 25-15 victory. The Griffins posted an impressive match-high 17 kills and a .412 hitting percentage in the second frame.

After leading 9-5 in the third set, kills from Schwartze, Woolsey (two) and a service ace from Mark Klusman put Fontbonne in control at 13-5. From then on, the team never relinquished the lead and cruised to the 25-17 set and match win.

Fontbonne 3 Concordia-Wisconsin 0

The Griffins success continued against the Falcons (0-10) in the night cap. The team ended the night with 43 kills, a season-high .400 hitting percentage, 38 assists and 26 digs.

Mark Klusman led Fontbonne with seven kills and a match-high .600 hitting percentage. Stephen Lendy posted six kills and six digs, while Kolin Scharnhorst, Nate Paasch and Schwartze compiled five kills each.

At the setter position, Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell led with a season-high 23 assists and Zach Rothstein ended with a match-high nine digs.

The Falcons had its struggles on the offensive side of the net against Fontbonne. The team rounded out the outing with 18 kills and 19 errors for a negative hitting percentage of -.015. Sam Rovik slammed home a match-high nine kills.

In the first set, the Griffins grabbed a 10-5 lead on Tony Pitaro's kill. Later, Stephen Lendy's kill opened the lead out to 16-10 and they went on to outscore the Falcons 9-4, earning the 25-14 first set win.

It was all Griffins in the second set as Scharnhorst's kill gave them a 10-4 advantage. The Falcons narrowed it down to 11-7 on Blake Schwandt's kill, however, that'd be as close as they'd get with the Griffins dominating the rest of the way for the 25-12 victory.

Fontbonne totaled a match-high 17 kills and a .448 hitting percentage in the second set, compared to CUW's three kills and five errors for a -.118 hitting percentage.

After back-and-forth play to start the third, the Griffins gained some breathing room at 11-7 on a Falcons attack error. Then, the team went on an 8-2 run to take a 19-9 lead on three straight kills from Paasch, and that was more than enough for Fontbonne to go on for the 25-15 set and match win.

The team jumps right back into action tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m., against Lakeland.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score.