ADRIAN, Mich. - At the Merillat Sport and Fitness Center, the Adrian men's volleyball team showed flashes of grit and resilience against conference-leading Fontbonne University, but at the end of the night, the visiting Griffins had put forth all the mettle necessary to come away with a 3-0 victory.
Despite match-high kill totals from
Andrew Gawrisch and
Chase Heuer, the 'Dogs ultimately could not overcome Fontbonne's unyielding attack, which finished at 33.3 percent compared to the home side's 17.4 percent.
It may have been a straight-sweep on the final scorecards, but Adrian put up one of its strongest fights of the season.
After the visitors raced out to a 6-1 lead in the opening set, the Bulldogs regrouped and strung together a 6-2 run to pull within a point at 8-7. Heuer was an instrumental piece of the black and gold's first big stretch of the evening, contributing two of his match-total 10 kills, and one service ace.
Fontbonne remained in the lead, nevertheless, and would not allow Adrian to draw level from that point en route to a 25-19 first-set win.
In the second set, a combination of successful attacks from Heuer, Gawrisch and
Tedrick Gula propelled the 'Dogs to an early 6-5 lead. The Griffins stayed within striking distance, eventually edging ahead 11-10. A subsequent four-point run by the home team, however, put them right back in the driver's seat with a 14-11 advantage.
The momentum did not sustain for long, unfortunately, as Fontbonne turned right back around with four-point run of their own, and ended up closing the middle frame on a 7-1 swing.
The final set of the contest looked to be all Fontbonne from the first serve, and the Griffins went on to build a 15-9 cushion. The Bulldogs would not go away quietly, piecing an 8-1 run behind a series of Fontbonne errors to pull right back into contention.
An ensuing back-and-forth battle ultimately fell in favor of the Griffins, sealing the three-set decision.
Brandon Ravelo dished out 28 assists for Adrian, while Heuer and Gula paced the home side with seven and six digs, respectively.
The men's volleyball team will conclude the 2022 regular-season at home against Wabash College on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
Prior to the match, the 'Dogs will recognize the season's senior class!
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