ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The No. 14 MIT men's volleyball team dropped a four-set road UVC match to St. John Fisher on Friday night at the Manning-Napier Varsity Gym. The tightly contested match featured 40 ties and 15 lead changes.
Braeden Baker and Henry Garewal led the way for the Engineers with 15 kills each.
THE BASICS:
- Score: St. John Fisher 3, MIT 1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 26-24)
- Records: No. 14 MIT (18-6 Overall, 4-2 UVC), St. John Fisher (17-9 Overall, 3-3 UVC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Set 1: Nate Toth put MIT ahead 17-14 before SJF scored three-straight to pull even. An attacking error gave the Engineers a two-point lead at 21-19 but the Cardinals tied the set yet again at 21 with a kill from Avery Kielbasinski. Colin Zimmerman gave MIT a 23-22 advantage, but the host got three-straight points with a kill from Kielbasinski sealing the set.
- Set 2: A 3-0 run that featured two kills from Baker and a kill from Garewal gave the Engineers an early 6-5 lead. Baker later put the visitors up 16-11 as the Engineers continued to hold onto the lead. A late run by St. John Fisher made the score 24-20 but an ace from Garewal secured the 25-20 win for MIT.
- Set 3: Toth made the score 6-4, but two aces from Kielbasinski tied the set and sparked SJF to slowly build a 16-11 lead. Baker pulled MIT to withing three at 21-18 and a 4-0 run punctuated by a kill from Zimmerman made it a one-point set, but a service error gave the home team the set three win.
- Set 4: The teams continued to stay close in the early portions of the set with a kill from Garewal making it a 13-12 MIT lead. The Cardinals eventually regained the lead, but a Toth ace tied the set at 19. Two St. John Fisher errors gave MIT set point, but the host rattled off three-straight points with an ace from Aiden Calhoun securing the win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Garewal recorded his sixth match with at least 10 kills while Baker got double-digit kills for the tenth time this year.
- Baker put up a team-leading 11 digs with Zimmerman contributing 10. Zimmerman also had a match-high 43 assists.
- Matthew Louis recorded six blocks while Garewal had five.
- Kielbasinski led the Cardinals with 15 kills in the match.
UP NEXT:
- The Engineers wrap up conference play tomorrow, Saturday, March 28 with a 1:00 PM match against Nazareth.
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