Men’s Volleyball surges past North Greenville, 3-1

SALISBURY, N.C. – Unfazed by a first-set defeat, the Catawba College men's volleyball team punished North Greenville on the next three to even the series with a 3-1 victory at Goodman Arena on Thursday night.

TEAM STATS

- The Catawba Indians (7-8) recorded their second-best hitting percentage of the year with a .357 success rate, leading the Trailblazers' (4-7) mark of .224

- All 48 of NGU's kills were assisted versus Catawba's 48-of-54 tally

- While the hosts were slightly more accurate in service, North Greenville claimed a 6-4 advantage in the ace count

- The squads were even defensively in both digs (38) and blocks (5.5)

- Four blocking errors and a ball-handling error at the net held NGU back, compared to Catawba's pair of blocking miscues

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Luke O'Neill enjoyed a standout performance, ripping a career-high 10 kills on a blistering .600 hitting clip while notching two aces and three digs

- Trevor Phillips pummeled 16 kills to lead the offense, adding four digs and Catawba's lone solo block

- Eli Zdonek dropped the hammer 15 times and picked up two aces, six digs and two block assists

- John Cordray also set a new career high of eight kills with seven digs and a couple of stops

- Max Adkisson hit the floor for 11 digs and chipped in an assist, while Kristian Smith stacked up 44 dimes with seven digs

- Wyatt Eastin recorded four blocks, one for each set, and supplied four kills on seven swings

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set

- Going point for point in the first 12 rallies, NGU received a kill and back-to-back aces from Thomas Roper to grasp a 9-6 advantage

- A pair of kills from Michael de la Cruz moments later brought the lead to four, forcing Catawba to call the night's first timeout

- Aces by Logan Taylor and de la Cruz were part of a 6-2 run coming out of the break to boost the Trailblazers' cushion to 19-11

- O'Neill dropped in two kills before Roper found paydirt for a fourth time, closing the opening stanza 25-17 favoring the visitors

Second Set

- Despite conceding the first point, Catawba won the following two and kept control over the period early

- NGU was knocking on the door at 7-6, but a Zdonek strike and two O'Neill aces keyed an 8-3 slide to push Catawba ahead 15-9 at the media timeout

- O'Neill delivered a couple of darts as Eastin and Smith held solid for a block, causing a Trailblazer timeout as Catawba possessed a 21-13 edge

- Zdonek and Eastin logged one kill apiece, followed by Cordray's two strikes to snare a 25-16 triumph and level the match at 1-1

Third Set

- Phillips caught fire to open the third stanza, blasting five kills in the first 13 rallies to lift Catawba to a 9-4 advantage

- Roper used a kill and ace to stabilize the Trailblazers, until the Catawba Indians came back swinging as Phillips broke NGU's serve and set up Zdonek for three kills in quick succession

- The hosts raised the gap to 10, but Carter Shomock cut the margin to eight and spurred a Catawba timeout to regroup

- The blue and white punctuated the set with wins in three of the last four rallies, taking a firm 25-15 win

- Phillips logged 10 kills while Zdonek mashed six in a monster set for the veteran outside hitters

Fourth Set

- The Catawba Indians dashed to a 6-1 lead before NGU found footing and tightened the deficit; Benjamin Andexler and Ezekiel Priola elevated for a stop to make it a two-point margin at 9-7

- Roper found hardwood with three swings, moving the Trailblazers to the doorstep at 14-13 on the last

- After tying the score at 20-20, 21-21 and 22-22, NGU finally broke through on two kills from Andexler to reach set point

- Two Trailblazer miscues and a Zdonek kill later, Catawba got the upper hand with a set point at 25-24

- O'Neill got a kill that Roper responded to with a blast of his own, but Zdonek came right back with a strike to keep the visitors on edge

- Up 27-26 after staring down set point behind 24-22, Catawba forced a Trailblazer error to complete a 6-2 comeback and wrap up the match in 3-1 fashion

UP NEXT

Catawba hits the road on Tuesday, Mar. 4 for a meeting at Emmanuel. First serve against the Lions is slated for 6 p.m.