Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 QUINCY, Ill. - Quincy opened the QU Invite with a split performance, falling to Missouri S&T in four sets (23-25, 25-18, 21-25, 19-25) before bouncing back with a dominant straight-set victory over Roosevelt University (25-15, 25-18, 25-15) at Pepsi Arena.
The Hawks showed resilience throughout the day, battling through inconsistencies in their first match before finding their rhythm in the nightcap to improve to 4-3 on the season.
Match One vs. Missouri S&T
Set One
The opening set was a back-and-forth battle with 11 ties and five lead changes. Quincy started strong with a service ace from Aleksandar Sosa to go up 1-0, but Missouri S&T immediately answered with a kill and a service ace to take a 3-1 lead.
Quincy clung to a slim 19-18 lead late in the set, but a pair of attack errors and a kill allowed Missouri S&T to regain control at 21-19. The Hawks couldn't close the gap, dropping the set 25-23.
Set Two
Quincy responded with an emphatic second set, jumping ahead 9-5 after a block from Relja Milosavljevic. Missouri S&T pulled within two at 10-8, but Quincy countered by taking six of the next eight points, capped by a Sosa kill to make it 16-11.
The Miners never drew closer than two points for the remainder of the set as a four point QU run late in the frame put the Hawks in prime position up 24-16, before going on to take the set 25-18.
Set Three
The third set opened with a 9-5 Missouri S&T lead that the Hawks would spend the rest of the set attempting to erase, taking four of five points shortly after to narrow the margin to 11-13.
The sides traded the next 11 points to a 19-16 Miners advantage until a LJ Novakovic kill and S&T error brought the Hawks within a point. QU was unable to get over the hump, dropping four of the final five points of the set for a 21-25 defeat.
Set Four
A five point Miners run found QU trailing early 8-4 before the Hawks fired back with a six point run shortly after to press ahead 11-9.
Later in the set at 15-15, a six point S&T swing spelled the end for Quincy, pressing the deficit to 21-15 as Quincy was unable to climb out of the hole from there, dropping the set 25-19 and match 3-1.
Stats Leaders:
14 Kills, 4 Aces - Aleksandar Sosa
43 Assists - Armaan Dosanjh
3 Blocks - Relja Milosavljevic, Tomas Badan
12 Digs - Victor Scherer
Match Two vs. Roosevelt
Set One
Quincy wasted no time asserting control in the opening set, using a 5-0 run—fueled by a pair of blocks from Milosavljevic—to take a 5-1 lead. The Hawks extended their advantage to 10-3 on another block from Milosavljevic shortly after.
The Lakers put together a convincing comeback bid, drawing within a point at 14-13, prompting Quincy surges of two and three points before closing out the frame in style with a six point run for a 25-15 win. Quincy's defensive pressure held Roosevelt to a negative hitting percentage in the set.
Set Two
The second set saw a more competitive start, with Roosevelt taking an early 3-0 lead. Quincy worked it's way back into the mix shortly after, using another six point swing to jump ahead 9-7.
The Hawks continued to apply pressure with a pair of three point runs to stretch the advantage to 16-12. Roosevelt hung around, but wasn't able to keep up down the stretch as Quincy took seven of the final 10 points of the set to seal a comfortable 25-18 win on a Milosavljevic kill.
Set Three
Quincy carried its dominance into the third set, doubling up the Lakers to a 6-3 start before using a five point run shortly after to blow the frame open 13-7.
Roosevelt never drew nearer than five points the rest of the way as a pair of Bauer Larson kills along with a Zackary Zdrojeski termination and an RU error served as the final Quincy salvo in a 25-15 winner to complete the sweep.
Stats Leaders:
10 Kills - Barnabas Fenyvesi
15 Assists - Dylan Feely
2 Aces - Aleksandar Sosa, Tomas Badan
8 Blocks - Relja Milosavljevic
6 Digs - Ljubisa Novakovic
Next Up
After splitting the day's matches, Quincy will look to build on its win with two more wins in day two action of the QU Invite on Saturday (Feb. 1). First, facing off with Rockhurst for an 11:00 AM showdown before taking on Emmanuel University at 5:00 PM.
