QUINCY, Ill. – The Quincy University men's volleyball team pushed Purdue Fort Wayne to the brink in a five-set thriller on Friday evening (Mar. 21) at Pepsi Arena but fell just short, 3-2 (23-25, 25-22, 16-25, 25-23, 14-16).

Quincy showcased resilience throughout the match, rallying back to force a decisive fifth set. AJ Goedheer powered the Hawks' offense with 17 kills while hitting .500, while Aleksandar Sosa also posted 17 kills and added a service ace.

Tomas Badan contributed seven kills and a team-high four aces. Armaan Dosanjh facilitated the offense with 45 assists, and the defensive effort was highlighted by 10 total blocks, including three each from Gunnar Kukkonen, Sosa and Goedheer.

The first set was a very close one as neither side held a lead larger than two points until the Mastodons fired down three straight kills to press ahead 19-16. The advantage, however slight, proved to be enough in the end as the Hawks pushed Purdue Fort Wayne to its brink, but dropped the first set 23-25. 

After falling behind in the early stages of the second set, QU found its way back out in front thanks to four Mastodons errors, propelling the Hawks ahead 15-13. Purdue Fort Wayne hung around the rest of the way, even regaining the lead briefly, before an error and Badan ace closed out a 25-22 win. 

It was anyone's set for the taking in the early going as just a single point separated the sides until a five-point Mastodons run as part of a larger 7-1 Purdue Fort Wayne swing found the Hawks trailing 9-16. Quincy slimmed the margin to five shortly after before losing grasp of the set late for a 16-25 defeat. 

The Hawks doubled up the Mastodons to a 12-6 score to open the fourth set before eight of the next 11 points went to Purdue Fort Wayne to trim the Quincy advantage to 15-14. Later in the set, QU held a slim lead until the Mastodons took four of the next five points to even the tally at 23-23. In the same fashion as the second set, an error and another Badan ace gave Quincy a 25-23 winner. 

Trailing 3-4 in the fifth set, the Hawks took four of the next five points to press ahead 7-5, before taking an 8-6 lead into the changing of sides two points later. Shortly after, Purdue Fort Wayne evened the tally at 9-9, before regaining the lead moments later at 12-13. Back-to-back Goedheer kills put the Hawks a point away from victory, before a kill and two QU errors saw the Mastodons take the win, dealing Quincy a 14-16 set, and 2-3 match loss. 

Next Up 

The Hawks are back in action tomorrow evening (Mar. 22), hosting the No. 10 Bearcats of McKendree for a 5:00 PM MIVA match at Pepsi Arena.