The Basics:
Score: Cal Lutheran 3, Roanoke 0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-21)
Records: Kingsmen 6-4, Maroons 4-4
Location: Ashland, Va.

The Lead: The Roanoke men's volleyball team dropped their first game at the R-MC Invitational on Saturday morning to Cal Lutheran, 3-0.

Highlights:

• The Kingsmen jumped out to a 4-0 lead with Roanoke responding by tying the score up at 9-9 on a block by Pierce Faulcon and Colin Mendoza. After CLU took an 18-12 lead, the Maroons took a time out with the two team then trading point for point the rest of the set with the Kingsmen winning 25-18 to take a 1-0 set lead.
• CLU jumped out to an 8-0 lead and 13-1 lead in the second set. Roanoke responded with the Kingsmen leading 19-6 by going on a 8-0 run to pull within five at 19-14. Five-straight points for CLU gave them set point at 24-14 before the Maroons got three straight. A kill for the Kingsmen gave them a 2-0 set lead at 25-17.
• The beginning of the third set went to Roanoke with the maroons having two, three-point leads at 10-7 and 15-12. CLU would go on a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the set at 17-15. The teams then traded a pair of two-points before the Kingsmen claimed the match with a 25-21 set three win.

The Basics:
Score: Roanoke 3, Eastern 2
Records: Roanoke 5-5, Eagles 4-7
Location: Ashland, Va.

The Lead: The Roanoke men's volleyball team split their two matches at the R-MC Invitational with a 3-2 come from behind win over the Eastern Eagles.

Highlights:

• The first set was close the entire way with the Maroons holding onto a 19-17 lead. But Eastern would go on a 5-0 run to jump out to a three-point lead late. Roanoke pulled within one at 23-22 before a pair of points for the Eagles gave them a 25-22 set one win.
• The Eagles started off the second set with a pair of three-point runs and a five-point run to take a 15-5 lead. The Maroons went on their own 4-0 stretch, but the Eagles responded with their second five-point run to take the 20-9 lead. Eastern held on for the 25-18 set two win and 2-0 match lead.
• The third set saw the Eagles have a slim 8-7 lead before Roanoke went on a 4-0 run to take an 11-8 advantage. The Eagles would begin to chip away before taking a 16-15 advantage of the Maroons. However, Roanoke went on another 4-0 lead to put them back out in front 19-16 and forcing Eastern to take a timeout. The Eagles called their second timeout with the Maroons leading 24-21 before a kill by CJ Kingston closed out the set 25-22 in favor of Roanoke.
• The fourth set saw the Maroons jump out to a 3-0 lead and have an 11-9 gap between the two teams before Eastern went on a 5-0 to take a 14-11 lead. The Maroons then began to slowly chip away before tying the score at 22-22. After a single point for the Eagles, Roanoke scored the final three points to level the match at two-sets apiece with a 25-23 set four win.
• With the score tied at 3-3 in the deciding set, the Maroons went on a 5-1 run to take an 8-4 lead. The Eagles would pull within two points on three more occasions before Roanoke closed out the come from behind win with a kill by Kingston and a service ace by Jackson Rutkowski, 15-11.

By the Numbers:

• Michael Cummins led the Maroons with six kills against Cal Lutheran with CJ Kingston having the match-high 12 kills against the Eagles. Rutkowski also reach double-figure kills against Eastern with 11.
• Davin Stevenson finished the day with 56 assists, bringing his season total to 156 through nine matches.
• This season the Maroons are averaging 9.8 kills, 8.77 assists, 9.06 digs and 2.34 aces per set.

Up Next: The Maroons will be back in Ashland on Friday, February 17 with a pair of matches including Roanoke's CVC opener against the Yellow Jackets at 5 p.m. before taking on the Purple Raiders of Mount Union at 7 p.m.