ADRIAN, Mich. – On Friday, February 17, the Adrian College men's volleyball team fell to Central State University three sets to one in the opening match of this weekend's Adrian Quad. Tonight, junior
Chase Heuer led the Bulldogs with a team-high 10 kills.
How It Happened
During the first set on Friday evening, the Bulldogs struggled to build momentum against their opponent. The men's volleyball team would only lead once in the first set at 4-3 after an attack error occurred by a CSU player. Despite claiming the lead early, Central State University responded with six straight to gain a five-point edge over the men's volleyball team. In the middle of the set, the Bulldogs would trial by eight twice. Despite the lead that they were up against, the men's volleyball team did not go down without a fight. Heuer and
Jackson Palmitier would record kills, while the Bulldogs claimed a point off an attack error by Central State University to quickly outscore their opponent 4-2. However, the momentum was lost as quickly as it was built, and Central State University would double up Adrian College 8-4 in the final frames of the set to take the first.
The men's volleyball team lost a gut-wrenching second set 26-24 Friday. The Bulldogs were able to manage leads by five or more points in the set over five times. Their last five-point lead was at 18-13 after Heuer assisted a kill to
Carson Bell. After a spurt by Central State, a kill by
Andrew Gawrisch improved the Bulldogs lead to 24-22, however, CSU continued to respond. CSU would score four straight points against the men's volleyball team to win the second, 26-24, and took a 2-0 lead into the third set.
The Bulldogs rallied in the third and outscored Central State by a total of six points in the set. Adrian College would trail by at little as two points and would lead by six on three occasions. After the Bulldogs saw their lead trim to three points at 22-19,
Beck Fieldhouse would record a kill and CSU would complete back-to-back attacking errors, allowing the Bulldogs to close out the third on a 3-0 run and advance to the fourth down 2-1.
In the fourth and final set, the men's volleyball team fell behind quickly after their foes from Ohio opened the fourth with an 8-0 run. Fieldhouse responded by recording one of his seven kills on the night to end the run. Fieldhouse, hyped with energy, celebrated with his teammates after putting a stop to the run. The Bulldogs would respond to Fieldhouse's energy and cut the deficit to six points. However, after trailing 12-6, the men's volleyball team was unable to improve their dent on their deficit. CSU responded to the Bulldogs and concluded the set on a 13-5 run to defeat the men's volleyball team three sets to one.
Top Dawgs
Heuer would lead the Bulldogs in the kill department with 10, while
David Barona and Gawrisch tied for a team-high 14 assists this evening. Gawrisch also posted a match-high 10 digs tonight, marking the third time this season that he would record 10 or more digs in a match.
Historical Notes
Tonight marked the first-ever match between Central State University and the Adrian College men's volleyball team. With the loss tonight, the Bulldogs trail 1-0 in the all-time series against CSU.
Up Next
The men's volleyball team will conclude the Adrian Quad tomorrow by taking on Maranatha Baptist University at 10 AM and Thiel College at 5:30 PM. Live stats and live stream information is located under the men's volleyball schedule. The Bulldogs will be looking to sweep the season series against MBU and win their fifth consecutive match against the Sabercats Saturday. Tomorrow also marks the first-ever match between Thiel College and the men's volleyball team.
