CANTON, Mo. - The Quincy University men's volleyball team traveled across the Mississippi River Tuesday (Feb. 11) night to battle Culver-Stockton College. Omari Wheeler tallied a career-high 26 kills as the Hawks took down the Wildcats 3-1 (25-19, 26-24, 22-25, 25-14). 

1st Set
The Hawks offense was hitting on all cylinders early in the opening set. Omari Wheeler slammed home three kills in the first nine points of the match to help QU to a 6-3 lead. Eddie Jakubauskas and Zach Reider also added kills during that stretch.

Culver fought back and took an 11-10 lead, but Quincy answered with a big run.

The Hawks took eight of the next 12 points to pull back ahead 18-14.

The Wildcats got back within three, but an Adam Meyer kill put QU up 21-17 and forced a CSC timeout.

The timeout did not thwart the Hawks momentum, as Omari Wheeler recorded two more kills down the stretch to give Quincy the 25-19 set win.

2nd Set
The second set was a back and forth affair, as the score sat tied at 15.

The Hawks proceeded to go on a 4-2 run, fueled by three Omari Wheeler kills, to go ahead 19-17.

Culver put together a huge response, pulling even with the Hawks, 22-22.

The Wildcats scored two of the next three points to take a 24-23 lead.

Facing set point, QU did not back down.

The Hawks showed grit and toughness, taking advantage of two errors by the Wildcats to retake the lead.

QU took the set on the next point as Eddie Jakubauskas put the hammer down, giving the Hawks the 26-24 win.

3rd Set
Culver jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third set and led by as many as seven.

The Hawks clawed their way back within one after kills from Manuel Hernandez, Blake Sprecher, and Omari Wheeler, but Quincy was never able to take the lead.

The Wildcats took the third set 25-22. 

4th Set
QU was determined to make the fourth set the last, scoring the first five points out of the gate.

Culver took advantage of a Quincy service error to score their first point of the set, but the Hawks answered with three more to go up 8-1.

Quincy later stretched their lead to nine, 20-11, after back-to-back kills from Wheeler.

The senior from North Las Vegas, Nevada later put the exclamation point on the Hawks most dominating set, notching his 26th kill to seal the match for QU.

Quincy took a 3-2 victory after a 25-14 fourth-set win.

Stat Leaders
Omari Wheeler - 26 kills
Eddie Jakubauskas - 12 kills
Yoran Raymaekers - 44 assists
Noam Hannoun - 25 digs

Up Next
Quincy will return to Pepsi Arena on Thursday (Feb. 13) to begin MIVA play. The Hawks host Loyola Chicago at 7 p.m.