FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – The Catawba College men's volleyball team broke away late in each set to sweep Emmanuel, 3-0, on Wednesday evening at Shaw Athletic Center.
TEAM STATS
- Catawba (8-8) hit .289 with 39 kills compared to Emmanuel's (1-17) .218 mark and 40 kills
- The foes were even in the ace count at 2-2, but Catawba posted a better service percentage of .890 as the Lions recorded 12 errors against the visitors' eight
- The Catawba Indians set a new program record with 13 total blocks, overshadowing the 7.5 stops tallied by Emmanuel
- Coming in with the nation's 12th-best digs per set average, the Lions led Catawba in total digs by a significant 43-32 margin
INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Eli Zdonek shined with team highs of 15 kills and a .464 hitting percentage, adding a service ace, three digs and three blocks
- Trevor Phillips registered nine kills while logging four blocks and five digs defensively
- Luke O'Neill collected a season-high seven blocks including a solo stop in addition to five kills and four digs
- Kristian Smith dished out 26 assists with three digs, a kill and an ace, while Nate Seeger chimed in with 10 helpers and a pair of denials at the net
- Max Adkisson received at a .960 clip and had double-figure digs for the fifth time as a rookie, saving 10 Lion attacks
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- Two Zdonek strikes and host miscues allowed Catawba to leap out to a 5-1 lead, but a block-heavy Lion defense evened it at 8-8
- Lucas Nieves brought Emmanuel to one-point advantages twice before John Cordray teamed with Wyatt Eastin and O'Neill for a couple of stops, swinging the momentum back to Catawba
- With the Lions behind 18-16, the hosts received back-to-back kills from Nieves to level the score
- Kills by Eastin and O'Neill finished off a 7-3 run to end the opening set 25-21 in the Catawba Indians' favor
Second Set
- A streaky start for both sides included a block and two kills from Zdonek, followed by a run of Catawba hitting errors for an even 7-7 score
- The Lions went ahead 13-10 when Nieves, Aidan Feeney and Carlos Guerrero put together a stream of offense
- Zdonek helped Catawba rise out of a 15-12 deficit with a kill and two stops to tie it, then consecutive errors and a Seeger-O'Neill block forced an Emmanuel timeout at 20-18
- Three Nieves darts and two from Feeney were overpowered by a more diverse Catawba resistance as Cordray chalked up the sealing blast for a 25-23 final
Third Set
- Feeney and Aedan Vanegas fronted an early advantage for the Lions, but the lead evaporated after Catawba went on a 4-0 kick thanks to a Zdonek kill and ace as well as two bad sets from Emmanuel
- Nine straight sideout-producing rallies kept the set neck-and-neck as Zdonek broke the streak with back-to-back blasts that produced a 14-12 edge for the guests
- Phillips and Cordray sent in shots while assisted blocks from Phillips-Eastin and Phillips-O'Neill preceded O'Neill's solo denial that spurred a timeout with Catawba leading 20-16
- Emmanuel nearly evened the score late, but kills by Phillips and Zdonek got to set point as Smith aced the final rally to complete the sweep with a 25-21 third stanza
UP NEXT
The blue and white are back at Goodman Arena on Friday, Mar. 7 for the rescheduled home date with Barton. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
