The Basics:
Score: Eastern Mennonite 3, Roanoke 2 (27-25, 23-25, 25-17, 17-25, 15-13)
Records: Royals 1-0, Roanoke 0-2
Location: Springfield, Ohio.
The Lead: The Roanoke men's volleyball team opened their second day in Ohio with a five-set thriller with CVC opponent Eastern Mennonite, but the Royals claimed the final two points in the deciding fifth set to come away with a 3-2 win over the Maroons.
Highlights:
- The first set saw the Maroons jump ahead mid-way through, having a 16-10 lead. The Royals would go on a five-point run to pull within two at 18-16 and then tie the score at 23-23. EMU had a set point at 24-23, but a kill from CJ Kingston tied the score at 24-24 and an EMU attack error gave Roanoke their own set point at 25-24. However, the Royals went on to win the final three points for a 27-25 set win and a 1-0 set lead.
- A timeout by the Maroons, down 19-17 in the second set, did not immediately pay dividends as EMU scored the next point and went up 20-17. Roanoke responded with five of the next six points and then the final two, including a kill from Davin Stevenson to level the match at one set apiece with a 25-23 set two win.
- The third set saw the Royals never trail and pulled away late, scoring six of the final eight, including the final three for a 25-17 set three win. The Maroons responded in the fourth with their own 25-17 set win thanks to a 6-1 scoring run to close out the set.
- The fifth and deciding set saw Roanoke lead throughout and just two points away with a 13-12 lead. But two Royals kills, and a Roanoke attack error allowed EMU to escape with a 3-2 set win.
The Basics:
Score: Roanoke 3, Geneva 1 (14-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-23)
Records: Maroons 1-2; Golden Tornadoes (1-1)
Location: Springfield, Ohio
The Lead: After falling just short earlier in the day, the Roanoke men's volleyball team earned the first win in program history with a 3-1 win over the Golden Tornadoes of Geneva to close out their weekend in Ohio. The win is also the first career win for first-year head coach Matt Reinsel.
Highlights:
- Geneva opened the first set on a 10-5 run and extended to 14-7. The Golden Tornadoes then used a 9-4 to widen the point gap even further to 23-11. Despite the Maroons winning three of the next four points, a Roanoke service error gave Geneva a 1-0 lead with a 25-14 set one win.
- The beginning of the second set went back and forth with Geneva leading 7-6. This time it was the Maroons who responded in a big way, going on a 5-0 run and winning 10 of the next 12 points to lead 16-9. Roanoke continued to push ahead with a 4-0 run and winning nine of the next 13 points to level the match at 1-1 with a win in set two, 25-13.
- The Maroons only trailed once in the third set, when Geneva won the first point. After that, the score was tied at 1-1, 3-3, and 4-4 before seven of the next 10 points were won by Roanoke. With the Maroons leading 15-9, the Golden Tornadoes used a small 6-1 run of their own to pull back within one, but the two teams would go point-for-point with the Maroons leading 20-19. A Geneva service error, a solo block by Pierce Faulcon, and a kill by Jackson Rutkowski force the Geneva to take a timeout trailing the Maroons, 23-19. Back-to-back service errors allowed the Maroons to take the set 25-20 and lead the match two sets to one.
- The fourth set was a game of runs early on as Geneva jumped out to a 9-3. But a 7-0 run gave the Maroons their first lead of the set at 10-9. A pair of points by the Golden Tornadoes put them back on top by one, but Roanoke went on another run, this time 5-0 to pull ahead by four, 15-11. Two points for Geneva were followed by two by the Maroons and another two points for the Golden Tornadoes. With the Maroons leading 20-16, Geneva used their final timeout and followed up with a 3-0 run to pull within one at 20-19. Four-straight points, including a pair of kills by Rutkowski, gave the Maroons a match point. Geneva responded with four straight points of their own to pull back within one at 24-23. A kill by Kingston sealed the set 25-23 and gave Roanoke its first win, 3-1, in their first season of competition.
By the Numbers:
- Michael Cummins led the Maroons on the day with 23 kills. He was followed by Rutkowski with 18 over the two matches. Stevenson led Roanoke in the first match with 29 assists and Leo Houser followed up with 30 against the Golden Tornadoes.
- On the defensive side of the ball, Kaeden Noble had 22 digs in the first match with Parker Steele leading the way in the second with 10. Connor Brooks finished with seven total blocks, including two solo.
Up Next: The Maroons will return home for their first-ever home match on Saturday, January 21 when they host Penn State-Altoona. First serve with the Lions is scheduled for 6 p.m.