Saint Xavier’s men’s volleyball team finished out the regular season with a dominating win against Roosevelt University. The Cougars won in three straight sets with scores of 25-11, 25-10, and 25-18.
With this win, no. 10 ranked SXU claimed the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) regular season title for the second consecutive season. They are now looking towards the CCAC Tournament, which they earned a first round bye for.
Saint Xavier will be the host of the semifinals and championship games.
SXU dominated the regular season finale from start to finish, never giving the Lakers room to breathe.
The Cougars finished the game with 42 kills to Roosevelt’s 16. They completely overpowered them, finishing with a .451 hitting percentage to the Lakers’ – 0.43.
Senior setter, Noah Randall, dished out 36 assists, had six digs, two service aces, and a kill to help lead SXU to victory.
Junior outside hitter, Vejas Cuplinskas, recorded a match high 11 kills on a .600 hitting percentage, as well as three digs and a block.
In the first set Saint Xavier had 14 kills to RU’s three, but the two teams had the same amount of total attacks (22).
The set was a little back and forth to start off but Saint Xavier went on a 10-0 run to pull ahead 19-8.
Freshman opposite hitter, Oskar Krzyzak, put the set away with a service ace.
Set two was much more of the same dominance from the Cougars, they jumped out to a 6-0 lead, setting the tone early on.
Roosevelt was never able to get on an offensive run to get themselves back in the game.
The second set ended with another service ace, this time by freshman outside hitter, Jan Lopuch.
The Lakers showed a bit more fight in the third set, scoring 18 points, but they just did not compare to the power of the Cougars.
Freshman libero, Andres Velez, had a match leading 10 digs, as well as registering three assists.
Junior middle blocker, John Glennon, set a career high in blocks with eight (two unassisted) and also had seven kills on a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage.
The win over Roosevelt was a milestone win for head coach, Tom Ryan, who earned his 100th career win in his fifth season as the Cougars’ leader.
Since taking over the program prior to the 2019 season, Ryan has donned an overall record of 100-36.
Senior middle blocker, Drew Ehlers, finished with five kills, two blocks (one solo), and two digs.
Saint Xavier will play in the semifinals against Trinity Christian College on Friday, March 31, at the Shannon Center at 7pm.
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