FORT VALLEY, Ga. – The Catawba College men's volleyball team was held scoreless on the road Thursday, enduring a 3-0 defeat to Fort Valley State at HPE Arena.
TEAM STATS
- FVSU (4-7) ripped 35 kills on a .516 hitting percentage, the highest among Catawba's (5-6) opponents this season, as the blue and white hit .181
- The Catawba Indians had a narrow edge in the service department, landing two aces with 10 errors while FVSU recorded eight aces but committed 16 errors
- However, Catawba logged a combined 18 miscues on its sets and receptions compared to the Wildcats' four
- The hosts totaled 3.5 stops at the net while holding Catawba silent, marking its first match with no blocks
INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Trevor Phillips topped the kills category with 11 strikes and added an ace
- Eli Zdonek blasted eight kills on 16 swings, hitting .375, with Catawba's other ace while splitting the team lead of four digs with Max Adkisson
- Wyatt Eastin registered a pair of kills on five attempts and picked up an assist
- Kristian Smith notched 18 assists, three digs, and one kill from the setter slot
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- FVSU leveraged three kills from Isaiah Fedd in the early going to jump out to an 8-2 lead as Catawba took a timeout to regroup
- Phillips chipped in a couple of darts but the Wildcats responded with points of their own, extending the gap to nine at 14-5
- Kills by Eastin and Phillips brought the deficit down by a point before the home team went on a six-point run
- Fedd found paydirt with back-to-back aces and a kill to wrap up the opening set in firm 25-9 fashion
Second Set
- Catawba bounced back with four straight points to begin the second stanza, dodging a Wildcat bid to take the lead with a Phillips ace and kill to make it 8-4
- A couple of Zdonek strikes provoked side-outs, but Catawba Indian miscues let FVSU gain a 14-11 advantage
- The Wildcats were hampered by their own mistakes soon after as Luke O'Neill found paydirt with a kill and Zdonek executed two – his second tied the set at 16-all
- Falling behind 20-17, Catawba burned a timeout to turn the tide and shrink the deficit to one which spurred an FVSU break
- Fedd recorded two kills to reach set point as Zdonek responded with a kill of his own, but Oshane Farquharson provided the winning point for a 25-23 decision
Third Set
- The Wildcats got three kills from Raheem Thomas to open set No. 3 in a similar way to the first, speeding to a 7-2 advantage
- Jaxon Hicks tallied consecutive darts ahead of Phillips' three-blast rebuttal, keeping the margin inside 10 points
- Helped by multiple FVSU errors, Catawba received kills from Zdonek and Jacob Brown in a back-and-forth series of side-outs
- Taviian Martin and Thomas contributed to the Wildcat attack late, recording blasts to help FVSU cross the finish line at 25-16 for the program's second sweep in as many days
UP NEXT
Catawba takes the court against Erskine tomorrow (Feb. 14) in Due West, S.C. at 6 p.m.
