It has not been an easy 2014 campaign for SXU Men’s Volleyball team, but it has not stopped them from playing hard.
They started out losing their first eight games of the season against a lot of very tough opponents.
On Feb. 8, the team finally won its first game on the road against Siena Heights University which was its first win on the road in a year.
After finally taking a turn down victory road they had to end up taking a couple more turns down let down avenue where they ran into Cardinal Stritch University.
The team suffered a thrilling, heart wrenching defeat in five sets to the Wolves by a final score of 25-22, 19-25, 16-25, 25-22, and 6-15. They fought hard but could not amp it enough for that last set.
Freshmen outside hitter Sean Barry led the team with 11 kills in the loss. Senior outside hitter Justin Cousin had 10 kills for the Cougars. Freshmen setter Moises Lopez was brilliant, dishing out 35 assists and posting 11 digs.
Senior middle blocker J.T. O’Connell had an impressive outing, finishing with 10 kills and four block assists, and his fellow middle blocker sophomore Sam Kull tallied nine kills and five service aces.
The team traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin to take on Division III opponent Carthage College.
It was a rough road trip for the Cougars losing the nonconference match in three sets: 25-14, 25-21, and 25-13. The team had its struggles offensively, posting only 20 kills to go along with 20 attacking errors.
Kull led the Cougars with seven kills and four total blocks while Barry chipped in six kills on the afternoon. Lopez did his best to set up the offense, dishing out 19 assists.
After two straight losses, the team was looking to rebound and they did just that against Robert Morris University last Friday night.
The team won their second match of the season in a three set sweep: 28-26, 30-28, 25-17.
Cousin led an impressive offensive outing for the Cougars finishing the conference match up with 12 kills. Cousin had an attacking percentage of .379 and the team overall finished the match with an attacking percentage of .247.
Lopez handed out 30 assists and was tough defensively, finishing with nine digs. O’Connell was strong at the net with seven blocks and his four kills allowed him to surpass 400 for his career at SXU becoming just the third player in SXU history to achieve this feat.
The Cougars next match is Tuesday, Feb. 25 in Dubuque, Iowa against No. 6 Clarke University.
Damone Griffin
Sports Editor
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