Men’s Volleyball blanks Benedict, making back-to-back home shutouts

SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's volleyball team kept its home court clean on Thursday night, sweeping Benedict to mark the squad's second consecutive 3-0 blanking at Goodman Arena.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba (3-3) used a .306 hitting percentage to produce a sideout rate of 65% or higher in each set, while Benedict (0-1) batted .139 in its season opener

- 39 of the Catawba Indians' 40 kills were assisted, compared to Benedict's 23-of-27 as Catawba led the match in set percentage by a whopping .464-.291 margin

- The Tigers had fewer errant serves (12-8), but Catawba inflicted a season-high seven service aces against Benedict's two

- Catawba finished with an 8.5-3 lead in the blocking category as both squads committed three blocking errors

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Eli Zdonek led the offense with a season-high 13 kills while adding three blocks and four digs

- Trevor Phillips killed 10 of his 18 attacks, posting a .500 hitting percentage as he notched five digs and logged 19 receptions with no errors

- Cam Reeder blasted seven darts on 11 attempts to hit .455 as he and Max Adkisson also dug out five attacks

- Kristian Smith picked up 35 assists in addition to recording a team-high six digs

- Wyatt Eastin impressed at the net, tallying a career-high five stops with four kills on seven swings for a .571 hitting clip

- Phillips, Smith, and Jacob Brown landed two service aces apiece as Zdonek chipped in one

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set

- Miscues plagued both teams early as Catawba found itself chasing for most of the opening set, beginning when Benedict got back-to-back kills to lead 5-3

- Zdonek and Phillips eventually found their footing and supplied necessary strikes, followed by a kill and ace by Brown to even the score at 12-12

- An 8-3 run allowed Catawba to sprint ahead as consecutive Phillips kills totaled five in the stanza

- A couple of darts by Zion Beckford kept the Tigers nearby, but Eastin used a solo block to reach set point and an attack error capped it at 25-19

Second Set

- With the exception of a brief 8-5 edge, neither team possessed a lead of more than two points before the 15-point media timeout

- Catawba lived and died by its attacking, landing nine kills with six attack errors by the time Benedict called its first timeout at 20-17

- The blue and white won five of the ensuing seven rallies, cruising to a 25-20 decision and entering the third set ahead 2-0

Third Set

- The Catawba Indians started set three on fire, recording the first six points including Zdonek's block and kill to force an early Tiger timeout

- Benedict broke the hosts' serve immediately out of the break, but a pair of Reeder kills and two points by Phillips preceded a Zdonek-Eastin denial to lift the Catawba lead to 14-5

- Coming out of a second timeout behind by 10, Jared Brown tallied two kills to begin the comeback effort

- Offense in the form of two kills from Zdonek and one apiece by Eastin and Smith and Benedict's self-inflicted wounds secured the 25-18 set win and another home sweep

UP NEXT

Catawba hits the road twice next week, beginning with a matchup on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at Barton. The match is slated to start at 7 p.m.