Griffins Sweep Past Misericordia But Fall In Game Two Against Hunter

DALLAS, Pa.—The Fontbonne University men's volleyball team swept past Misericordia in straight sets (25-22, 25-11, 25-16) to start the day, however, the Hunter College Hawks took game two in four (25-20, 17-25, 23-25, 20-25).

Fontbonne 3 Misericordia 0

The Griffins (16-6), needed just a little over an hour to come away with its third-straight win against the Cougars.

Fontbonne compiled 36 kills, an impressive .353 hitting percentage and 10 block assists. Mark Klusman paced with six kills, while Brendon Schwartze, James Sauermann and Stephen Lendy had five a piece. Setter Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell added 25 assists. Defensively, Zach Rothstein came away with 11 of the 29 digs.

Misericordia (13-15), meanwhile, totaled 29 kills but had 13 service errors. Ryan Miller led the Cougars with a match-high 10 kills. Bailey Brugler ended the day with 26 assists, while Michael Mohutsky totaled eight digs.

After Fontbonne led 10-7 early, the Cougars went on a 3-0 run to tie the game on Caleb Bauder's kill. Fontbonne went on to regain the lead and expand it out to 21-16.

The Cougars stayed within striking distance at 24-22 on Kaden Abreu's kill, though Klusman finished off the set with a kill to give Fontbonne the 25-22 win.

It was all Griffins in the second set. A block assist from Braden Woolsey and Stephen Lendy gave them an 11-4 advantage. It was smooth sailing from there as they went on for the 25-11 victory.

In the third, Fontbonne grabbed a 10-6 lead on a Cougars service error. Misericordia narrowed it down to 15-14 on Ryan Miller's kill.

The Griffins responded with a 6-0 run and that was more than enough for them to go on for the 25-16 set and match win.

Hunter 3 Fontbonne 1

In game two, the Griffins finished with 53 kills which is its second-highest mark on the season in a four set match. Mark Klusman had a team-high 13 kills, while Braden Woolsey posted 10 kills and a match-high .474 hitting percentage. Stephen Lendy also tied Woolsey in kills.

Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell was busy handing out a season-high 46 assists, while Rothstein led with a team-high 20 digs.

The Hawks (17-9), totaled 50 kills and standing out was Qendrim Shala's match-high 14 kills. Matthew Zukowski contributed 12 of his own. Setter Alec Helford came away with 43 assists, while Joseph Muir had a match-high 25 digs.

In the first set, a kill from Daniel Dobrogowski cut the Griffins lead down to 12-10. However, Fontbonne rattled off a 5-0 run, capped off by Schwartze's kill. They never relinquished the lead from there and went on for the 25-20 win.  

In the second, Blake Hogan's kill gave the Hawks an 8-3 lead. Later, Klusman's kill made it a 21-17 outing, though Hunter closed out the set on a 4-0 run and that secured the 25-17 win.

In the third, the Hawks put the Griffins in a 10-3 hole on Dobrogowski's kill. Fontbonne responded with a 15-7 run and took an 18-17 lead on Emir Hadzisalihovic's kill. From there, the two teams went point-for-point but the Griffins grabbed the lead on Woolsey's kill to make it 22-21. The Hawks, however, went on a 4-1 run to finish off the set, winning 25-23 on Cyrus De Guzman's kill.

Hunter took a 10-7 lead in the fourth but the Griffins met-up with them at 14-14 on Hadzisalihovic's kill. They went on to tie three more times as Woolsey's kill made it 18-18.

The Hawks were able to finish off the set and the match on a 7-2 run, capped off by Alec Helford's service ace to win, 25-20.

The Griffins return to action tomorrow afternoon against New Jersey City. First-serve goes up at 4 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.