Tuesday
Saint Xavier took on #8 Robert Morris University in a game that saw the Cougars lose the game 3–0, but the game, despite was the score may say, was a tightly contested game.
The loss was the first of the season for Saint Xavier and it was their first conference loss of the season as well despite the valiant effort by the Cougars.
Like many of the sets played this season, the Cougars and the Eagles played in a very close first set.
From the very beginning, these teams would trade the lead with one another up until Saint Xavier went on a run that saw them take a 14–10 lead in the first set. But Robert Morris would rally, eventually coming back and taking the lead at 17-16.
The teams with then go back and forth with one another throughout the rest of the set.
Late in the first set, the Cougars tried to make one last comeback attempt but could not as the Eagles would win the first set 25–23 off of a serve error by Sam Kull and take a 1–0 game lead.
In the second set, Saint Xavier and Robert Morris would battle once again in a tightly contested set that saw neither team go on a run until the very end of the set.
Throughout the set, Saint Xavier played like they could win this set and tie the game at 1-1, but they could not find a big run in them unlike their counterpart, who went on two separate three point runs to give themselves a 19–15 lead and a 25–22 set win. After the set, the Cougars found themselves down 2–0 in the game with the pivotal third set coming up.
The third set was on par with the first two sets, with Saint Xavier and the #8 Robert Morris Eagles trading points with one another. Tied at 12–12, St. Xavier got hot scoring nine of the next 13 points scored in the set to take a 21–16 lead.
At this point, it seemed as if Saint Xavier would go on to win this set and take this game to a fourth set. But Robert Morris would comeback, scoring the next five points to tie the game at 21–21.
Saint Xavier would try to hold them off and get this game to a fourth set, but could not as #8 Robert Morris would win the set 25–23 and win the game 3–0 to complete the collapse.
The team could seem to not get out of their own way, as Saint Xavier had 17 attacking errors and 14 serving errors. Kull lead the team with 11 kills and two aces. Sean Barry also had double-digit kills with 10. Moises Lopez lead the team in assists with 32. Libero Dominic Villa have a good defensive game with seven digs. This was the team’s first loss of the season as well of their first conference loss of the season.
Thursday
Saint Xavier would play their second game of the week facing off against #7 Lourdes University looking to rebound from their loss earlier in the week against #8 Robert Morris University.
This game saw Saint Xavier come out strong, but could not maintain their momentum and commit costly mistakes in a losing effort to Lourdes University. The loss is the volleyball team’s second straight loss of the season and in conference play.
Saint Xavier started out hot started out hot leading the first set 5–2 against Lourdes, but they would come back to score seven of the next 10 points to take a 9–8 lead.
From there, the teams would trade point after point with each other. Late in the first set, #7 Lourdes would take a 23–22 lead off of Sam Kull serve error.
But this would not deter the Cougars, as they were going to score the next three points and win the set 25–23 off of Sean Barry’s kill which also gave Saint Xavier a 1–0 game lead.
The second set played out much like the majority of the first set, with each team trading points. Tied it 8–8, the Cougars seemed to start to pull away after scoring three straight points to take a 11–8 lead, but Lourdes came back to pull within one point at 13–12.
Lourdes would eventually come back to tie the set at 16–16 forcing Saint Xavier to use a timeout. Lourdes would not be slowed down by the timeout though and would take a 21-18 lead. But the resilient the Cougars would come back to tie the game at 22–22 forcing Lourdes to take a timeout and try to halt Saint Xavier’s surge. The timeout succeeded as Lourdes would score four of the next six points to win the second set 26–24 and tie the game at 1-1.
In the third set, #7 Lourdes size and athleticism was on display as they would take an early 9–3 lead on the Cougars. From there, Lourdes would control the pace of the third set keeping the Cougars at bay for most of the set. Down 20–12, the Cougars valiantly attempted to come back, showing their grit and never say die attitude, but would ultimately lose the set 25–16 and find themselves down in the game two – one setting up a crucial fourth set.
The fourth set held true to the theme that played out throughout the game: both teams playing tough in a back-and-forth contest.
Even when these teams went on multiple point runs, the other team would come back with a run of their own to make the game close.
Tied at six, Saint Xavier Woods Court four straight points on Lourdes University in to take a 10–6 lead. But #7 Lourdes University would come storming back, scoring 11 of the next 13 points to take a 17–12 lead.
But once again, with the pressure on, the Cougars would answer closing their deficit to 19–17. Later, again facing a sizable deficit at 21-17, St. Xavier would not give up coming back to within one point at 23–22. But the comeback was not meant to be as Lourdes would go on to win the set 25-23 and win the game 3-1.
For the second time in as many games, Kull lead the team with 17 kills. He also added in seven blocks to his great performance on the night. Sean Barry had 11 kills in this game. Moises Lopez had 33 assists and libero Dominic Villa had seven digs for the second straight game. One of the keys to the Cougars’ downfall was their errors. The Cougars had 20 attack errors in the game with 17 of them coming in the final three sets. After the loss, the Cougars are now 2-2 after suffering their second straight loss and are now 0-2 in the Great Lakes Conference.
Saturday
Saint Xavier played their third and final game of the week against Siena Heights University. The Cougars played very well in this game winning 3-1 in a generally comfortable fashion.
With the win, Saint Xavier is now 3–2 on the year. They also picked up their first conference win of the year in this game as well.
The Cougars started out strong scoring the first three points of the first set. Siena Heights would come back eventually tying the game at 10–10.
But the good times for Siena Heights were short-lived as the Cougars would go on to score nine straight points to take a 19–10 lead.
From there the Cougars would trade points with the Saints, leading to a 25–17 first set win for the cougars on an error by Siena Heights and a 1-0 game lead as well.
The second set was tightly contested though. Saint Xavier and Siena Heights would trade points with each other throughout the entire set.
Late in the set, Saint Xavier would push their lead to 23–20 off of a kill and ace by Dan O’Keefe. Up 24–22, Saint Xavier would battle to get that last point, ultimately getting it off of a Sean Barry kill giving the Cougars a 2–0 game lead.
In the third set, Saint Xavier would jump out to an early 9–5 lead. But Siena Heights would come back and tie the game at 10-10. From there, the third that would play out much like the second set with both teams trading points with one another.
Near the end of the third set, it looked as if Saint Xavier was going to go on and sweep Siena Heights 3–0, but the Saints had other plans as they went on to score four straight points to take a 24–21 lead and win the set 25–22 due to an attack error by Saint Xavier’s Craig Rosner to cut the Cougars game lead to 2–1.
In the fourth set, Saint Xavier dominated Siena Heights starting out on a 10-1 run.
They would not let up and allow the Saints to get back in the game. The Cougars were very aggressive, getting a plethora of kills and forcing Siena Heights to make a lot of attack errors.
Saint Xavier would go on to win the set 25–11 with the final point coming from a kill by Sam Kull.
Kull once again had a great performance getting 14 kills and eight blocks including three solo blocks. Moises Lopez had another game with plenty of assists at 37.
Dominic Villa had a standout defensive performance with a game-high 11 digs. Sean Barry had double-digit kills again with 12.
Saint Xavier had 11 aces in this game as a team, with a game-high five aces coming from Dan O’Keefe who also had nine kills. With this win, the Cougars are now 3–2 on the year with a 1-2 conference record.
Saint Xavier will look to continue their winning ways in a tough conference matchup on the road against the #10 ranked Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Tuesday, February 3, at 7 PM. Unfortunately, we will not have the results at press time.