SXU Men’s Volleyball has looked more impressive in the past couple weeks while trying to overcome a slow start to the season.
Just recently they went over .500 in conference play by recording back-to-back wins against Cincinnati Christian University and Siena Heights University.
Last Thursday the team went on the road to take on Cardinal Stritch University in a matchup of NAIA Great Lakes Division combatants.
The Cougars two match win streak ended with a three set defeat at the hands of the Wolves: 25-14, 25-11, and 25-16.
The team struggled offensively during the match collecting 22 kills versus 24 attacking errors for a team attack percentage of .026.
Senior middle blocker J.T. O’Connell led the Cougars with six kills and senior right side hitter Jacob Siska dished out 13 assists to lead the team in that category.
First-year outside hitter Matthew Mead and sophomore middle blocker Sam Kull each had four kills for the Cougars.
The lost puts SXU at 5-5 on the season, which is an amazing feat when you think about how rough the start of the season was.
They started 1-3 in conference play and 1-10 overall but were able to get on track and pick up some nice wins.
This season the team has been led by senior outside hitter Justin Cousin who has a team best 147 kills and Kull is right behind with 144 kills on the year.
First-year setter Moises Lopez leads the team in assists this season racking up 308.
O’Connell and Kull are leading the team in blocks with 63 and 57 respectively.
The team now has one more match left before they start their conference tournament against Siena Heights University on March 28.
Before that though the Cougars will play a make-up match that was canceled Feb. 4 on the road against Lakeland College at 7 p.m.
Damone Griffin
Sports Editor