(RV) Men's Volleyball Drops Its Season Opener Against (RV) Cal Lutheran

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.—The (RV) Fontbonne University men's volleyball team opened the 2020 season with a tough straight set (25-14, 25-23, 25-16) loss against (RV) Cal Lutheran on Thursday night.

Final: (RV) Cal Lutheran 3, (RV) Fontbonne 0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-16)

Location: Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Records: (RV) Cal Lutheran 5-2, (RV) Fontbonne 0-1

How It Happened

In the first set, the Kingsmen opened with a 10-4 lead on a block assist from Nick Christy and Andrew Reina which forced the Griffins to take a timeout.

Out of the break, the Kingsmen expanded its lead out to 19-9 on Patrick Rowe's kill and went on to secure the opening 25-14 win. It was a tough opening set for Fontbonne totaling six kills and eight errors for a negative -.074 hitting percentage. On the flip side, the Kingsmen posted 14 kills and a match-high .407 hitting percentage.

In the second set, it was back-and-forth play throughout but after trailing 13-12, the Griffins went on a quick 2-0 run with Cameron Graves giving them the 14-13 lead.

Later, the Griffins held its marginal lead at 20-17, though the Kingsmen continued to chip away. Cal Lutheran eventually gained the advantage back at 23-22, however, the Griffins got the point back on a Kingsmen service error.

Cal Lutheran completed the comeback collecting kills from Kelly Jew and Justin Dietrich to go on for the 25-23 win. Fontbonne fared better offensively in the second set totaling 11 kills and a .147 hitting percentage. Cal Lutheran totaled 15 kills on 38 attempts for a .237 hitting percentage.

In the third, the Kingsmen jumped out to a 10-7 lead on Andrew Reina's kill. From there, they expanded the lead out to 20-13 on Rowe's kill and never looked back to win the set and the match, 25-16.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne finished with 27 kills and a .085 hitting percentage.
• Defensively, they came away with 36 digs, four solo blocks, and four block assists.
• Cal Lutheran, meanwhile, finished with 45 kills and a .337 hitting percentage.
• At the net, the team totaled three solo blocks and eight block assists.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Braden Woolsey led offensively for Fontbonne with a team-high nine kills and .438 hitting percentage.
• Cameron Graves added eight kills and Nate Paasch contributed six.
• Setter Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell collected his first double-double on the year with 24 assists and 10 digs.
• Defensively, Zach Rothstein earned a game-high 14 digs. He's now just 19 digs away from becoming the all-time digs leader at Fontbonne.

Cal Lutheran Leaders

• Patrick Rowe led with a game-high 14 kills and .407 hitting percentage.
• Andrew Reina totaled 13 kills, while Justin Dietrich contributed nine kills and zero errors for a .692 hitting percentage.
• Jacob Cudiamat handed out 19 of the 44 assists. Connor Hinthorn finished with 10 digs.

Up Next

The Griffins are right back at it tomorrow afternoon when they'll take on No. 13-ranked New York University. First-service at 3 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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