The Benedictine University men's volleyball team has two road contests this weekend in Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League play. BenU will oppose Mount St. Joseph University on Friday night in Cincinnati, Ohio, then travel to St. Louis, Missouri to oppose Fontbonne University on Saturday afternoon.
Benedictine resumes conference play after hosting non-conference foe and fourth-ranked SUNY-New Paltz on Sunday. Despite keeping all three sets close, the Hawks managed to defeat the Eagles three consecutive times and sweep the freshman-heavy BenU squad. New Paltz out hit the Eagles .304 to .155 and received 12 kills and a .800 hitting percentage from national hitting percentage leader Christopher Husmann.
Eric Tarnow led the Eagles with eight kills, while
Markus Riemer added 24 assists. Benedictine now sits in sixth place in the eight-team MCVL with a 6-12 overall and 3-6 conference record.
Friday: at #14 Mount St. Joseph (14-8, 7-3), 5:00 p.m.
MSJ has been not only one of the MCVL's top teams this season, but one of Division III's best as well. The Lions currently rank 14th in the nation, with a 14-8 overall and 7-3 MCVL record. Despite the strong record, Mount St. Joseph has scuffled a bit since the end of February, posting a 4-5 record since February 21 with all three MCVL losses coming during that stretch.
The Lions' last victory before the 4-5 stretch came against Benedictine on February 20, as the Lions extended a winning streak to seven matches with a victory in Lisle. BenU captured the first set in the match, but MSJ rallied back to take three in a row and win 3-1.
Sterling Glover (11) and Tarnow (10) each tallied double-digit kills in the loss, while
Lewis Stein and Riemer each added five blocks.
Saturday: at Fontbonne (5-17, 1-9), 2:00 p.m.
The Griffins currently sit in a tie for seventh place in the MCVL, recording just one conference win on the season. Fontbonne's one MCVL win came against the conference's other seventh-place team, as the Griffins knocked off Loras College in straight sets on the road on Friday. It was Fontbonne's second straight victory after dropping 14 consecutive matches from February 1 through March 6.
One of the 14 consecutive defeats for the Griffins came at the hands of BenU on February 21 in Lisle. Despite a close first set that ended 25-23 in favor of the Eagles, Benedictine dominated the match's final two sets to sweep the Griffins. Glover tallied 13 kills in the win and hit at a .379 clip, while libero
Ian Thompson recorded 16 digs.
