FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The Quincy University men's volleyball closed out it's two-match road trip with a Saturday evening (Mar. 29) MIVA conference match at Purdue University Fort Wayne, falling to the Mastodons in four sets (22-25, 23-25, 26-24, 22-25).
Aleksandar Sosa had a strong match for Quincy, collecting 14 kills to go with a team-leading three aces while also notching seven digs and six blocks.
Relja Milosavljevic led the defensive effort with seven blocks, also adding eight kills.
Set One
The Hawks got off to a hot start to open the match, using a six-point run featuring a trio of Milosavljevic blocks to open up a 7-2 advantage early in the set. PFW took for of the next five points to close the gap to 8-6, before using a five-point run shortly after to move out in front 11-10.
Later in the set, leading 14-13, another Purdue Fort Wayne run put Quincy in a tough spot, down 18-13. QU trimmed the margin to 23-21 on a kill from Milosavljevic and one of
AJ Goedheers 14 terminations in the match, but the comeback effort was turned back as the Mastodons took set one 25-22.
Set Two
The second set was highly contested from wire-to-wire as just two points served as the largest lead well into the closing stages of the frame where PFW was able to use a two-point run to press ahead 24-21.
A block and kill from Milosavljevic along with a block for Sosa pulled the Hawks back within a score at 24-23 before Purdue Fort Wayne claimed the final point of the set to press ahead 2-0 in the match.
Set Three
After falling behind 4-1 to open the third, Quincy was able to even the tally shortly after at 7-7 thanks to a three-point run capped off by a
Tomas Badan ace. Later in the set, another ace, this time from Sosa gave QU it's first lead of the set at 13-12.
A three-point Hawks swing shortly after gave Quincy a little wiggle room at 16-13, just for the Mastodons to come thundering back with a four-point run later in the action to press ahead 20-18.
Looking to stave off the sweep, QU evened the tally at 21-21 on blocks from Badan and
Zackary Zdrojeski, before PFW took three of the next four to force match point at 24-22.
With their backs against the wall, the Hawks showed strong resilience, stringing together four straight points on a pair of Sosa kills, another termination for Goedheer and a Zdrojeski ace to steal the set 26-24.
Set Four
Runs of two and three points found QU with a 5-2 advantage to open the set, prompting a five-point response from PFW to find the Hawks trailing 7-5. Equal to the task, Quincy returned the favor with it's own swing of five points to replenish the advantage to 10-7.
Purdue Fort Wayne was able to knot the score at 12-12, before using a three-point run to push ahead 16-15. Three of the next four went to the Hawks to regain an 18-17 edge.
QU remained on the right side of a trading of points to a 22-21 score, where the Mastodons slammed the door on the set and match with a four-point run to claim the victory in the contest three sets to one.
Next Up
The Hawks are back on the road for their next match, traveling to Kansas City, Missouri for a 6:00 PM nonconference matchup with the Hawks of Rockhurst University on April Fools' Day, Tuesday evening (Apr. 1).
