[Men's Volleyball] Men's Volleyball Gains Two Mid-South wins, Remains undefeated in MSC
LAURINBURG, N.C. - The St. Andrews University men's volleyball team topped Webber International University on Friday evening in three sets (25-21), (25-18), (25-19) to kick off their home play for the weekend. The Knights then hosted Mid-South rival, Warner University, on Saturday afternoon and took the win in 4 sets (13-25), (25-12), (25-15), and (26-24).
SAU 3, WIU 0
St. Andrews came up on top in the first set, 25-21, making the first the closest set score of the match. The Knights finished the first set with 13 kills with just 4 errors while limiting the Warriors to just 6 kills.
Senior Edgar Huerta (SR/Salinas, CA) and Jacob DeSouza (JR/Quail Valley, CA) entered the second set on fire as they combined for 9 out of the 13 kills for the Knights, helping SAU take the second set from the Warriors with a score of 25-18. The middle blockers formed quite the trio for SAU, with Ben Twigger (GS/Concord, NC), Huerta, and Daryn Friedman (SO/Pembroke Pines, FL) assisting in a combined 7 blocks against the Warriors in set 2.
The third set was close for the Mid-South teams, but St. Andrews was able to take advantage of several late-set attack errors by the Warriors and ending the night with a 25-19 win.
SAU recorded more kills overall, 40-27, and hit .351 for the match while keeping Webber under a .100 hitting percentage.
SAU 3 WU 1
The Royals had a dominating performance in the first set, outscoring the Knights with a score of 25-13. Warner played a perfect offensive game as they hit 11 kills with zero errors, while the Knights were limited to 9 kills on 4 errors. SAU did have a standout in set 1, with Jacob DeSouza collecting 5 of the team's 9 kills.
St. Andrews cleaned up their game in set 2, only producing 2 errors while the Royals had 10 attacking errors. Warner hit for a -.80 percent compared to the Knights strong .381 hitting percentage. The Knights were able to take the second set with a score of 25-12.
The third set would be much like the second with the Knights building off momentum and outscoring the Royals, 25-15. Junior Nate Blackwell (JR/Menifee, CA) had a strong third set recording 6 kills on 6 attempts, hitting a perfect set for the Knights.
The Mid-South rivals fought point for point in the fourth set, but SAU was able to come out on top, 26-24. With the win over Warner, St. Andrews improves to 11-0 in Mid-South play and sits in first in the MSC rankings.
The Knights will next be in action on Thursday, March 28th, as they travel to Brewton-Parker for another Mid-South Conference matchup starting at 7:00 pm.