(RV) Men's Volleyball Closes Out Trip With Tough Losses Against (RV) Vassar And No. 8 UC Santa Cruz

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.—The (RV) Fontbonne University men's volleyball team closed out its trip to California with a four-set loss against (RV) Vassar and a straight set defeat against No. 8-ranked UC Santa Cruz.

Game 1

Final: (RV) Vassar 3, (RV) Fontbonne 1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19)

Location: Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Records: (RV) Vassar 2-2, (RV) Fontbonne 0-3

How It Happened

In the first set, the Griffins opened with a 9-6 lead on Jacob Hartmann's kill. However, the Brewers responded with a 5-0 run to take the 11-9 advantage on a Fontbonne attack error.

Later in the set, the Brewers led 17-11, though a 6-1 run by Fontbonne had them right back in it, 18-17, on a block assist from Hartmann and Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell. That'd be as close as they'd get, however, with the Brewers going on for the 25-19 win.

The Brewers totaled 11 kills and a .273 hitting percentage in the first, while the Griffins had its struggles with seven kills and 10 errors for a negative hitting percentage of -.107.

In the second set, the Griffins started out with a 6-0 lead and maintained that advantage at 11-6 on a block assist from Hartmann and Nate Paasch.

Fontbonne continued to hold onto that lead, but the Brewers got the deficit down to 22-20 on Gavin van Beveren's solo block. Fontbonne never let go of its lead with a Brewers service error securing the 25-22 win.

The Griffins improved offensively in the second totaling a match-high 12 kills and a .226 hitting percentage.

In the third, the Griffins led 11-8 on a Vassar attack error and that forced them to take a timeout. The Brewers were able to regroup and take a 14-13 lead back from Fontbonne on Ryan Duchemin's kill.

They expanded it out to 20-16 but Fontbonne stayed in it later as a service error and an attack error trimmed Vassar's lead down to 24-22. The Brewers, though finished out the set on Matt Usui's kill for the 25-22 victory.

In the fourth, it was the Brewers this time around taking the early lead at 10-5 on Steven Koja's kill. Later, Vassar led 16-9, however, the Griffins got right back in it with a 4-0 run as a bad set made it a 16-13 contest.

Another Vassar attack error had Fontbonne down 20-18, but the Brewers finished out the set and the match on a 5-1 run for the 25-19 victory.

Inside The Numbers

• Fontbonne finished with 33 kills and a .044 hitting percentage.
• Defensively, they set new season-highs in digs (39), block assists (11) and total blocks (seven).
• The Brewers totaled 52 kills and a .254 hitting percentage.
• They totaled 48 digs and 20 block assists at the net.

Vassar Leaders

• Kevin Ros posted a match-high 18 kills and a .571 hitting percentage.
• Andrew Kim added 10 kills, nine digs, and three block assists.
• Steven Koja handed out a match-high 45 assists.
• Defensively, Matt Usui led with 12 digs.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Cameron Graves finished with 10 kills and a .208 hitting percentage.
• Braden Woolsey contributed seven kills and a .211 hitting percentage.
• Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell dished out 26 assists.
• Sebastian Roca led with a season-high 10 digs.

Game Two

Final: No. 8 UC Santa Cruz 3, (RV) Fontbonne 0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-14)

Location: Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Records: No. 8 UC Santa Cruz 5-3, (RV) Fontbonne 0-4

How It Happened

It was back-and-forth play early but the Banana Slugs expanded its lead out to 11-6 on a kill from Kyle Lutz. They stretched it out to 19-11, but Fontbonne got right back in it with a 20-15 deficit on a solo block from Grant Garza. However, the Banana Slugs closed out the set on a 5-0 run to take the opener 25-15.

In the second set, a kill from Nate Paasch trimmed the Banana Slugs lead to 13-10. UC Santa Cruz responded with a 5-0 run to own an 18-10 advantage. The Banana Slugs held on the rest of the way for the 25-18 victory.

In the third, a block assist from Braden Woolsey and Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell had Fontbonne trailing 12-9. The Banana Slugs rattled off a 4-0 run to take a 16-9 lead and from there they were able to go on for the 25-14 set and match win.

Inside The Numbers

• The Griffins finished with 27 kills and a .127 hitting percentage.
• Defensively, they totaled 20 digs and four blocks.
• UC Santa Cruz ended with 46 kills and an impressive .427 hitting percentage.
• They added 31 digs and 12 block assists.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Cameron Graves led with a team-high seven kills and seven digs.
• Nate Paasch added five kills, while Jacob Hartmann and Braden Woolsey had four kills each.
• Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell totaled 26 assists.

UC Santa Cruz Leaders

• Rowdy Lennon ended with a match-high 12 kills.
• Aaron Fox added 10 kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
• Sam Wittert contributed a match-high 40 assists.

Up Next

The Griffins return to action on Wednesday for an exhibition contest against NAIA No. 2-ranked Missouri Baptist University. 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.

Make sure to follow us on all our social media accounts: Twitter (@FBUGriffins), Instagram (@fbugriffins) and Facebook (/FontbonneUGriffins).