Klusman's 13-Kill Performance Leads Griffins Past Alvernia

READING, Pa.—The Fontbonne University men's volleyball team got back to its winning ways on Tuesday night as they started its trip out to Pennsylvania with a sweep (25-22, 25-18, 25-15) over Alvernia.

The Griffins (14-5), finished with 33 kills, a .291 hitting percentage and 41 digs. Individually, Mark Klusman led with a match-high 13 kills and .417 hitting percentage.

Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell recorded another double-double with 27 assists and 11 digs, while Zach Rothstein contributed 10 digs of his own.

The Golden Wolves (11-13), had 37 kills and a .175 hitting percentage, however what did them in was its 16 service errors.

Ralph Lunati III tied Klusman with 13 kills. Justin Gibbs handed out 34 assists, while Jon Demeter led Alvernia with 11 digs.

In the first set, it was back-and-forth play early but a 3-0 run, capped off by a block assist from Brendon Schwartze and Braden Woolsey, gave Fontbonne a 13-10 lead.

The Golden Wolves would retake the lead at 15-14 on Collin Welteroth's kill. However, after trailing 18-17, Klusman's kill tied the set at 18-18.

From there, Fontbonne extended its advantage out to 23-20 and went on for the 25-22 victory on Schwartze's kill.

In the second set, Fontbonne opened with a 10-4 lead on Klusman's kill. Later, a kill from Schwartze made it a 16-10 outing. Alvernia, though kept battling and got the deficit down 20-17 on a Griffins service error.

The Griffins finished off the Golden Wolves as they responded with a 5-1 run and hung on for the 25-18 win on Emir Hadzisalihovic's kill.

From the opening service in the third, the Griffins were in control. They grabbed a 14-5 lead out of the gate and never looked back going on for the 25-15 set and match win.

The team returns to action tomorrow night against Widener (1-12). First-serve goes up at 6 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.