The Benedictine University men's volleyball team will have and eventful week, as three Midwest Collegiate Volleyball Conference matches are on the schedule. BenU will travel to Loras College on Wednesday night, host Mount St. Joseph University on Friday, and host Fontbonne University on Saturday.
This past week, the Eagles (2-7, 0-3) dropped two home matches at the Dan and Ada Rice Center, falling to Dominican University in five sets and Lakeland College in three sets. The two losses increased the first-year program's losing streak to six after starting the season 2-1. Benedictine is one of three winless teams in the eight-team MCVL.
Wednesday: at Loras (0-7, 0-2): 7:00 p.m.
Benedictine travels to Dubuque, Iowa on Wednesday to take on Loras College. Also a first-year program, the Duhawks possess 12 freshman and two seniors to compile one of the youngest teams in the MCVL. Loras is still looking for its first win as a program and has dropped two matches in a row in straight sets, losing to Dominican and Carthage College in conference play.
Wednesday will be the second of three meeting between the two programs, as the Eagles and Duhawks met in Lisle back on January 21. Benedictine won in straight sets, taking set one 28-26 before finishing off Loras with 25-16 and 25-22 scores.
Eric Tarnow led Eagle hitters with 13 kills and a .407 hitting percentage, while
Jeremy Villarreal added 10 kills of his own.
Markus Riemer chipped in team-highs in assists (41) and digs (12). The win on the 21st did not count for MCVL standings, as the final two matchups between the schools will.
Friday: vs. Mount St. Joseph (9-3, 3-0): 7:30 p.m.
One of the MCVL's top teams visits Lisle on Friday night, as Mount St. Joseph comes to town. Off to a 9-3 start, MSJ comes into the matchup ranked 13th in the latest AVCA Division III Men's Volleyball poll. The Lions are one of three unbeaten teams in the MCVL, as MSJ, Dominican, and Carthage all hold 3-0 conference records. MSJ is in its fifth year as a program and won 16 matches last season, 11 more than its win total over the first three seasons combined.
The Lions will have six days off before facing BenU, as MSJ's last matches came over the weekend. MSJ swept Fontbonne, winning in straight sets on both Friday and Saturday at home in Cincinnati. The two wins extended the team's match winning streak to six, as the Lions have dropped just one set over that span.
Saturday: vs. Fontbonne (3-9, 0-3): 10:00 a.m.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Eagles after MSJ, as Fontbonne will play in Lisle on Saturday morning. The St. Louis school is in its ninth year as a varsity program and has yet to finish with a season with double-digit wins. However, the Griffins did post an 8-13 record last season, the program's best record in its history.
Fontbonne is off to a 3-9 start this season and is still looking for its first MCVL victory. After sweeping Rust College in straight sets twice on January 24 to start the season 2-0, the Griffins have dropped nine of ten matches since, with the lone victory coming on February 1 against Penn State-Altoona. Fontbonne has dropped seven straight matches and have won just three sets over that span. The Griffins take on Dominican in River Forest on Friday night before opposing BenU on Saturday.
