SXU men’s volleyball has had its rough patches this season, but lately they seem to finally be turning it around.
After starting the season 1-10, the team is starting to turn things around by winning four of their past six games.
They collected their second win of the season against Robert Morris University but had another setback a few days later on the road against No. 6-ranked Clarke University.
The Clarke Crusaders finished the match with an attacking percentage of .458 and 40 kills to sweep the Cougars in three sets: 25-16, 25-22, and 25-16.
The Cougars were led by sophomore middle blocker Sam Kull, who posted 10 kills and chipped in two aces. Senior middle blocker J.T. O’Connell had nine kills for the Cougars in the loss.
Freshmen setter Moises Lopez had 29 assists for SXU to go along with three digs and senior right side hitter Jacob Siska played well defensively, totaling five digs on the evening.
The next match saw a different result for the team as they dominated Cinncinati Christian University winning in three sets: 25-8, 25-15, 25-11.
The Cougars had 16 aces during the win, which tied a school record and finished the match with 22 kills for an attacking percentage of .326.
O’Connell played well again, finishing with nine kills and zero attacking errors.
Lopez had 19 assists for the Cougars and fellow freshmen Dan O’Keefe led the defense with 10 digs.
A few days later SXU took on another ranked opponent in No. 10 Lourdes University.
It took four sets but Lourdes defeated SXU by the final scores of 21-25, 25-19, 18-25, and 21-25.
Lopez did an excellent job setting up the offense picking up 38 assists on the day.
First-year outside hitter Sean Barry had a great game in defeat with eight kills, four aces and nine digs.
The senior O’Connell led the team with 12 kills and six total blocks at the net in his last season.
Over spring break, while students got a chance to rest, the SXU Men’s Volleyball team said goodbye to their seniors in front of the home crowd at the Shannon Center on “Senior & Parent Night”.
The team and their fans bid farewell to seniors Justin Cousin, Dan Nelson, Siska, O’Connell and Nick Piccirillo.
The seniors and the rest of the team had an impressive outing in their last home game of the season, defeating Cincinnati Christian University in three sets: 25-14, 25-18, and 25-15.
Senior outside hitter Cousin had 12 kills and Kull had a program record nine aces to go along with seven kills and a couple block assists.
O’Connell put up eight kills and two block assists in front of the home faithful.
This past Friday the Cougars would try to do something they have not done all season: win back-to-back games.
The Cougars took their shot at it against Siena Heights University and they hit a bulls eye by winning in four sets: 25-20, 25-27, 25-19, and 25-11.
Cousin played amazingly, finishing with 16 kills while Lopez had 42 assists and a team-best nine digs.
The team played very well offensively ,finishing the match with a whopping 49 kills and just 19 errors for an attacking percentage of .263.
O’Connell had 10 kills while Kull finished 11 kills and 10 blocks for an impressive all around performance.
This game was the home finale for the Cougars and they put on a show for their supporters.
After winning back to back games for the first time this season the Cougars improved their conference record to 5-4 on the year.
There are two matches left this season and the Cougars are starting to build momentum coming down the stretch.
The Cougars started the season really rough but have fought their way to a winning conference record.
They have a 5-12 record overall but throughout the season they have showed effort while playing in a very tough conference.
Their next match is against Cardinal Stritch University on the road at 7 p.m. on March 20.
Damone Griffin
Sports Editor
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