Men's Volleyball goes 1-3 in Wisconsin Invitational
| Published: 03/17/2013 |
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Thiel Match Box Score | Medaille Match Box Score
MILWAUKEE — MSOE finished the Wisconsin Invitational with a 1-3 record after losses to Thiel and #12 Medaille in the first and third matches of four played Sunday at the Kern Center. In the first match of the day, Thiel (12-8, 1-0 CVC East) won in straight sets, 25-20, 25-20 and 25-22. Later, the Raiders forced Medaille (14-14, 6-4 UVC) to a fourth set, but couldn't win their final match of the day, losing 25-23, 22-25, 25-21 and 25-22.
MSOE (4-13, 1-3 CVC West) struggled in the first two sets of the day, hitting just .078 as a team, while Thiel looked sharp, hitting .333 and never trailing in the first stanza. In the second set, Thiel recovered from being down 9-4 to make it 19-18, then won 14 of the next 16 points to both win the second and start the third.
MSOE came from behind to tie the third set at 20-20, but after the teams traded points, two Raider errors and a kill for Dante McCoy put the Tomcats up, 24-21. Brian Main (Sr./Lamar, Mo./ME) got the last of his match-high 13 kills to keep Raider hopes alive, but Dylan Lasher connected for the final kill of the match to give Thiel the victory.
Alex Harbour (Sr./Middleton, Wis./AE) had 10 kills for the Raiders. Lasher and Kyle Turkalj had eight kills each for Thiel.
Medaille took to the floor in the third match still reeling from their loss to Fontbonne in the second and looked rattled early. The Mavericks and Raiders played the first set to a 23-23 tie before a pair of MSOE errors allowed Medaille to take the match lead. MSOE outhit the Mavericks in the opening frame, .300 to .206, and did the same in the second, .233 to .146, though the results would be better as MSOE hopped out to a 4-0 lead in the equalizer and never surrendered the advantage.
Medaille returned to form in the third set, ending a 14-14 tie with three-straight points to take control. In the fourth, three-straight Raider errors turned an 11-11 deadlock into a 14-11 Medaille lead and the Mavericks wouldn't trail again. As Medaille began to smell victory, their hitting improved accordingly as the Mavericks recorded a .397 attack percentage over the final two frames.
MSOE had no answer for Trevor Barrett defensively. The sophomore from Amherst, N.Y. recorded a career-high 32 kills and hit .558 in one of the most dominant performances on the Kern Center floor in recent memory. David Riggsby had a double-double with 49 assists and 11 digs for Medaille while Cody Smith reached double-figure digs with 12. Main did his best to counter Barrett with a season-high 25 kills and Josh Avery (Jr./Bolingbrook, Ill./SE) had 40 assists and 12 digs for MSOE in the losing effort.
MSOE will go on a four-match road trip before returning to the Kern Center for its final scheduled home match of the season against Cardinal Stritch on Tues., March 26. The first serve will come at 7 p.m. CDT. Tickets are available at the Kern Center Box Office.
OTHER MATCHES & NEWS
Fontbonne stuns #12 Medaille
In the highlight of the day at the Kern Center, Fontbonne sent shockwaves through the Kern Center by knocking off #12 Medaille in five sets, 25-18, 20-25, 14-25, 25-23 and 15-12.
Fontbonne looked outmanned just taking the court. The Griffins entered with a 1-13 record (0-2 CVC West) and a roster featuring more coaches on the bench than players when the ball is in play. In fact, when Braxton Payne fell hard with a neck injury in the third set, the Griffins faced the prospect of playing with five if Payne couldn't go and another player got hurt. Payne was treated and immediately returned to the match.
Medaille, meanwhile, was able to counter the fatigue of playing its sixth match in three days by shuffling in 16 different players, including dominant 6-9 freshman middle blocker Cody Smith and Barrett, who would later have a career day against MSOE.
Both Smith and Barrett were on the floor to start the first set, but Fontbonne came out the aggressor. Two runs of three points, broken up only by a Barrett kill, made it 6-2 Fontbonne. The Griffins would put together three more three-point runs in taking an 18-10 lead and held on to capture the frame. Fontbonne used its full arsenal of offensive options, never seeing a player record more than a single kill in any of the three-point streaks, but maintained a consistent attack, hitting .345.
Medaille seemed to bring the match back under its thumb in the second and third sets. After Fontbonne tied the second set at 16-16, the Mavericks scored six of the next seven points to level the match at a set apiece. In the third, Medaille never trailed after giving up the first point of the set and Fontbonne committed two more errors than it had kills, recording a negative-.080 hitting percentage.
Down 8-6 in the fourth set, Fontbonne began the march to an upset. After a Smith error gave the Griffins service, Cody Schmelzle registered an ace to tie the set at eight and continue what would become a four-point Fontbonne streak. Aaron Graue then caught fire, registering five of his match-high 19 kills to lift Fontbonne to a surprising fourth-set win.
With MSOE and Thiel players cheering on their Continental Volleyball Conference partners from the stands, Fontbonne fell down in the fifth set, 3-0, and were behind 7-3 when Graue again put the team on his back, getting kills on three of the next four points to bring the Griffins within two at 8-6. Graue then went on serve as the Mavericks committed consecutive errors, tying the set.
The teams remained deadlocked at nine when the wheels inexplicably fell off for Medaille. Medaille senior Erin Kelly appeared to hammer home a kill, but was called for coming from the back and leaving the floor in front of the attack line instead, giving Fontbonne a 10-9 lead. Medaille coach Keith Koch burned a timeout, in part to vehemently protest the call, and Kelly was able to redeem himself by leveling the set at 10 with a successful attack after the break. But Medaille's David Hill cost his team the lead by first getting blocked by Mark Viglasky and Dominic Prospero, then putting the ball off the antenna on the next point. The sides traded kills, then Payne went on service and delivered a ball that was misdirected by a pair of Mavericks before a desperate save try fell short of the net. With match point at 14-10, Fontbonne would error once and take a timeout before Barrett couldn't keep the ball in on the final attack of the match.
The Griffins threw their arms in the air as they saw the ball go wide on the final point, while the players and fans watching from the stands lept to their feet in unison and screamed their approval. The young Fontbonne program is in its sixth season and first-year head coach Mike Haston spent the previous five years as Griffins assistant, meaning the victory may be the biggest in the lifespan of both.
Medaille, meanwhile, may fall out of the rankings after finishing with a record of 2-5 in its seven Wisconsin matches this weekend. The Mavericks lost all three of their matches in the Stritch Volleyball Invitational in Mequon on Friday, then beat Thiel before losing to #3 Carthage at the Tarble Athletic & Recreation Center in Kenosha on Saturday before the stunning defeat at the hands of Fontbonne and the bounce-back win over MSOE today. The Mavericks have lost eight of their last 11 matches.
Fontbonne can't make it 2-for-2, falls to Thiel
After its upset of #12 Medaille, Fontbonne took to the floor for the final Kern Center match of the day against Thiel with a renewed confidence, but the Tomcats ended any thoughts of the Griffins making it a truly perfect day by handing them a straight-set loss, 25-22, 25-23 and 25-20.
With both teams dragging at the end of a busy weekend, sloppy play became commonplace. Thiel (13-8, 1-0 CVC East) only had to hit .122 in the first set and .186 in the second to take a 2-0 lead.
Fontbonne (2-15, 0-2 CVC West) led the first set, 9-2, but allowed Charlie Tindall to take over the match as the setter went on the attack for four kills to lead the Thiel comeback. Lasher registered three kills in the final five points of the set to break a 21-21 tie and pace Thiel to a 1-0 match lead.
Lasher again came up big again in the second set, ending a 20-20 deadlock with a kill to give Thiel the advantage. Two more Fontbonne errors put the Tomcats up three and the Griffins couldn't complete a comeback.
Thiel took a 9-2 lead and never had much to worry about in the final frame. Fontbonne did fight back to make it 22-21, but committed three-straight errors to end the match.
Lasher had 13 kills to lead Thiel, while Colin Vitale was the defensive star, leading three Tomcats into double-figure digs with 25. Graue had 19 kills and Payne had 12 to lead Fontbonne on the attack. James Stika recorded 19 digs for the Griffins.
#3 Carthage dominates the Invitational
With victories in all four of its matches, #3 Carthage came away with the best record of the Wisconsin Invitational weekend. #10 Vassar finished 3-1, Thiel and Medaille went 2-2 and MSOE, Endicott and Fontbonne each went 1-3.
