ADRIAN, Mich. - With back-to-back conference wins under its belt, the Adrian men's volleyball team takes a step away from league-play this week to begin its final stand of non-conference matches.

The Bulldogs (5-14, 2-2 MCVL) are 2-1 in their last three contests, defeating Baldwin Wallce in five sets, and Trine in four. The lone loss was to Aquinas College, a product of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC). With that result, Adrian dropped to 0-6 on the season against members of the NAIA-based conference, but is looking to change its luck with consecutive WHAC opponents on the docket, beginning with Goshen College on Tuesday.

The Maple Leafs (16-7, 4-5 WHAC), who were receiving votes in the most recent NAIA coaches' poll, are coming off of an appearance at the William Penn University Invitational in Iowa over the weekend, in which they won four of their five matches.

Alexander Rabadzhiev actively ranks second in the WHAC with 303 total kills, while his attack percentage (0.303) and kills per set mark of 3.84 both rank fifth. The senior also leads the league with 34 total service aces.

Fellow senior Brayton Yoder sits atop of the conference with 226 digs, followed by Rabadzhiev (7th, 161), Michael Wahl (8th, 152) and Christian Rodriguez (9th, 134). Wahl, a fifth-year athlete for Goshen, currently paces the WHAC with 765 assists.

The weekday match-up in Adrian will be the third all-time meeting between the 'Dogs and Goshen. The two sides met previously for a doubleheader on February 27, 2019, with Adrian taking both matches, 3-1 and 3-2.

Then, on Friday, the black and gold travel over for a crosstown bout with Siena Heights.

The Saints (12-3, 7-3 WHAC) got the better of Adrian, 3-1, back on January 14 in Grand Rapids. Since then, their only losses have come from a top-ten ranked Indiana Tech squad, twice, and Goshen.

Siena Heights is one of only three WHAC programs with a plus-12 kills per set average. Senior Ramon Matos is primarily responsible for that mark, totaling 225 successful attacks behind a 0.310 hitting percentage.

Matos also leads the Saints with 19 service aces, which is just ahead of Joudiel Poveymirow, who is the team's leading receiver with 176 digs.

When the two sides met at the beginning of the season, Siena Heights posted a 0.360 attack percentage to Adrian's 0.152. Additionally, it was the Saints third-straight victory over their crosstown foe.

Speaking of the Bulldogs, Adrian is already seeing improvements in the second half of its 2022 season. Compared to the first half of the year between January 14 and February 6, the 'Dogs are up in attack percentage (+0.028), assists per set (+0.7) and service aces per set (+0.5), while having also committed fewer reception and attack errors per set.

Over the last four matches, Tedrick Gula has shined for the black and gold, corralling a team-high 39 digs and nine blocks, and the second-most kills (54) behind Chase Heuer (89).

Live stats and video will be available for both of this week's matches.