In the season opener, the men’s volleyball team played a tightly contested game against Dominican. This game was very close from the very beginning with the Cougars and the Stars trading points with one another.
In the first set, Saint Xavier would trade points with Dominican until they went on a run which saw them lead 15-9 and forced the stars to take a timeout.
After the timeout though, Dominican came out and scored four straight points to close the lead to 15–13.
Much like the rest of this game, the cougars words again push their lead forward, but Dominican would come right back and tied the game or make it close.
Eventually, the Cougars would give up the lead and be down 23–24.
Despite this, the cougars were not given trading point for point with Dominican until ultimately winning the first set 29–27 and two straight aces by Sean Barry and giving St. Xavier a 1–0 lead.
In the second set, Saint Xavier and Dominican would once again trade points until Dominican scored six straight points to take a 18–12 lead.
Saint Xavier would come back though and eventually tie the game at 23-23.
But, they could not win the second set as Dominican’s Nick Timreck would win them the set on a kill tying the game at 1-1.
In the third set, the cougars and the stars would once again trade points with each other in a very tight and pivotal third set.
Down 23-22 in the third set, the Cougars made a comeback thanks to Dan O’ Keefe’s ace and kill to get them points 23 and 24 and a game-winning kill by Sean Barry off of Dan O’Keefe’s serve to win the third set and take a crucial 2-1 game lead.
In the fourth set, the back-and-forth theme of the game continued as Saint Xavier and Dominican would trade points with one another, but ultimately the Cougars would win the set 25-23 and the game 3-1 from a block by Sam Kull.
It was the team’s first win of the season and the team’s first home win.
Dan O’Keefe would finish the game with a career-best 16 kills.
Sean Barry and Sam Kull had double-digit kills with 13 and 10 respectively. Kull also finished with a team-high six blocks.
In the second game in as many days, the Cougars traveled to Lisle, Illinois to take on Benedictine.
In the first set, the game was tight until the Cougars had scored four straight points to take a 18–12 lead and scored three straight points to take a 21–15 lead to take the first set 25–19 off of a kill by Sean Barry and to lead the game 1-0.
In the second set, Saint Xavier and Benedictine went back-and-forth with one another in a very tightly contested second set. It looked as if Saint Xavier would lose the second set after they were down 21-16.
But, Saint Xavier would score six straight points to take a 22–21 lead.
Benedictine would retake the lead and be one point away from winning the set at 25–24, but the cougars would go on to score three straight points with the second straight set winning kill by Sean Barry to win the set 27-25 and take a 2-0 game lead.
In the third set, Benedictine came out determined not to get swept and started the third set on a 7–2 Ron.
The Cougars would make it close, but ultimately Benedictine would pull away and win the set 25–19 and close Saint Xavier’s game lead to 2-1.
In the fourth set, Benedictine would again go on an early run and take an 8–3 lead.
Unlike the last set though, seen exhibitor would come back and make the set close throughout.
Down 21-19, Saint Xavier would score three straight points to take a 22–21 set lead.
After a Benedictine point to tie the game at 22–22, Saint Xavier would score two straight points off of Dan O’Keefe’s kill and ace to take a 24–22 lead.
Saint Xavier would ultimately win the game 25–23 off of a kill by Sam Kull and for the first time in team history would start the season 2–0.
Dan O’Keefe, Sean Barry, and Sam Kull each lead the team with 13 kills.
Moises Lopez was also a critical part of the Cougar victory with 40 assists and 13 digs.
Bradley Gadek finished the game with six total blocks to set the tone for the defense.
The Cougars will look to continue their winning streak on Tuesday, Jan. 27, on the road against Robert Morris University at 7 PM.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor
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