SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's volleyball team plays in front of a home crowd for the first time in program history on Wednesday against Belmont Abbey, then welcomes Lees-McRae to Goodman Arena on Friday.
Opening Week Recap
- Catawba finished its first week of competition at an even 1-1, enduring a season-opening defeat at the University of Charleston before picking up win No. 1 at King in 3-1 fashion
- Trevor Phillips paced the offense with 26 total kills, 23 against the Tornado alone, for a per-set average of 3.71 darts while tallying four service aces
- Jacob Brown hit an efficient .375 while picking up 14 kills in addition to collecting a team-high six blocks with a trio of aces
- Eli Zdonek and Cam Reeder also nabbed 14 kills apiece as Zdonek and Max Adkisson led the digs category at 14 and 15, respectively
- Kristian Smith excelled in his setting duties with 9.14 assists per set highlighted by a 51-helper affair at King in which he also recorded four kills, eight digs, and four blocks
Tarheel State Natives
- Six Catawba Indians are from North Carolina including two from the Charlotte area
- Phillips, who left his roots in Davidson to spend four seasons at Ball State, gets to play college volleyball in his home state for the first time
- Queen City product Aiden Perera was a member of a Butler High School squad that went a combined 31-9 during his junior and senior years
- John Cordray and Leo Trainum shared the court for Reagan, the state's third-ranked team who finished 2024 with an 18-5 record, as natives of Winston-Salem
- D'Youville transfer Smith calls Zebulon home and played for Triangle Volleyball Club during his prep career
- John Pendergrass, a teammate of Cordray and Trainum with Triad United Volleyball Academy, hails from Greensboro
Scouting the Crusaders
- Currently receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll, Belmont Abbey is 0-1 after falling to fellow vote-getter Lincoln Memorial by a 3-1 margin last Friday
- The Crusaders are defending Conference Carolinas champions, going 21-5 with 10 sweeping victories before bowing out of the NCAA Tournament in the quarterfinal round at No. 2 seed Long Beach State
- Matthew Staskunas, the 2024 CC Offensive Player of the Year, and Joseph Morris, the 2024 CC Freshman of the Year, return for Belmont Abbey under the league's Coach of the Year in Derek Sullivan
- Against LMU, Staskunas led the offense with nine kills and three service aces as Alejandro Leon collected 15 digs, the nation's third-best performance of the young season
Scouting the Bobcats
- Lees-McRae opens its 2025 campaign in Salisbury, looking to move past its 2-26 record from last season that included wins over Wittenberg and King
- The program has lost in its last 16 road matches as the Bobcats suffered defeats in each of their 15 contests on the road in 2024
- Returning for the Bobcats is outside hitter Austin Beaird, one of LMC's top players a year ago with 160 kills and 107 digs
- Abdirahman Ahmed fills the setter role once again as the Ankara, Turkey product amassed 411 assists and 17 aces last season
- Sebastian Heer is back at middle blocker after making 49 stops at the net while blasting 132 kills
Follow Along
The match will be broadcast on FloCollege with live stats on CatawbaAthletics.com.
