(RV) Men's Volleyball Finishes Out 2019 Home Slate With Win Over Lions

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The (RV) Fontbonne University men's volleyball team closed out its 2019 home slate with a four-set win against Mount St. Joseph.

Score: Fontbonne 3, Mount St. Joseph 1 (22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-18)

Location: St. Louis, Mo. (DSAC)

Records: Fontbonne 21-2 (5-2 MCVL), Mount St. Joseph (8-16 (4-3 MCVL)

How It Happened

In the first set, the Lions scored the first six points and expanded its lead out to 13-6 on Jason Hascher's kill. Later in the set, the Griffins tied it up at 20-20, but the Lions went on a 4-0 run as a block assist from Jack Spohn and Hascher gave them the 24-20 lead.

Despite a setting error and a block assist from Mark Klusman and Braden Woolsey, the Lions closed out the set on Hascher's kill for the 25-22 win.

In the second set, the Griffins jumped out to a 13-10 lead after two kills from Woolsey and another from Klusman. Fontbonne was leading 17-12, though a 7-2 run MSJ evened it up at 19-19 on Rey Sanchez's kill.

The Griffins answered with a kill from Klusman and never looked back as they went on for the 25-21 win on Brendon Schwartze's kill.

It continued to be back-and-forth play in the third as the two teams met-up at 12-12. From there, the Lions regained the lead and expanded it out to 21-16. However, the Griffins went on a 5-1 run as a service ace from Klusman tied it up at 21-21 and brought the momentum back towards Fontbonne.

They were all square once more at 23-23, however, Fontbonne collected the final two points for the 25-23 set win.

In the fourth, the Griffins grabbed the 13-10 advantage on a block assist from Emir Hadzisalihovic and Josh Farley. They stretched it out to 20-15 and cruised to the 25-18 set and match win on Farley's kill.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne compiled 50 kills and a .198 hitting percentage.
• They dished out 46 assists and 59 digs.
• The Lions ended with 52 kills and a .218 hitting percentage. They also added 10 block assists.
• The team had its struggles at the service line with 14 service errors and seven reception errors.

Fontbonne Notables

• Schwartze tied his season-high and registered his first double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs.
• Farley concluded with 10 kills. Hadzisalihovic added nine kills, a .615 hitting percentage, two solo blocks and three block assists.
• Woolsey had a strong day with eight kills and a .353 hitting percentage.
• After reaching 2,000 assists last night, Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell picked up right where he left off with 43 assists.
• Klusman led the Griffins with 12 digs defensively. Zach Rothstein added 10 of his own to tie Schwartze.

Mount St. Joseph Notables

• Darrell Swanson and Hascher tied with a match-high 14 kills. Zack Storc contributed 13.
• Rey Sanchez added 42 assists and libero Nick Melbardis led with 11 digs.

Up Next

• The Griffins return to action next weekend for two matches to close out the 2019 regular season. First-up on Friday is a trip to Olivet. First-service 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.

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