It was an up-and-down season, mostly down, for the Saint Xavier University Men’s volleyball team in 2014.
They saw their season come to an end this past Friday in the NAIA Great Lakes Conference Tournament against Cardinal Stritch University.
Before their conference tournament, though, the Cougars had to finish the regular season in a make-up game on the road against the No. 12-ranked Lakeland College Muskies.
The Cougars were beaten in their regular season finale in four sets by the Muskies of Sheboygan: 25-16, 25-22, 25-27, and 25-18.
Senior outside hitter Justin Cousin had a nice all-around game in his final regular season game, finishing with 13 kills, 11 digs and two block assists.
Freshmen setter Moises Lopez dished out 31 assists on offense and registered two block assists on defense.
Sophomore middle blocker Sam Kull played well in putting up 11 kills, two service aces and four total blocks.
SXU had a hard time overcoming sloppy play and giving up a lot of free points during the match by ending up with 20 service errors.
There was no time to think about the loss as the Cougars had to get ready to face Siena Heights University in the GLC Tournament.
The Cougars beat Siena Heights two weeks prior to their tournament faceoff.
The sequel turned out to be no different than the original act as the Cougars beat the No. 5-seed once again in four sets: 25-23, 26-28, 25-20, 25-20.
Cousin played exceptionally in the quarterfinal victory, racking up 17 kills and two service aces. Kull, a 2014 NAIA GLC all-conference first-teamer, finished with 10 kills and six total blocks.
Lopez was instrumental in setting up the attack, finishing with 40 assists and seven digs while his fellow first-year, Sean Barry, chipped in 13 kills to help the offense out.
SXU played well as a whole offensively, putting down 52 kills versus 21 attacking errors to finish with an attacking percentage of .267.
Next up was a rematch in the semi-finals against Cardinal Stritch University, who defeated SXU in five sets on Feb. 11.
The result was ultimately the same as before with the Wolves seizing victory from the Cougars in three sets, this time by the final scores of 25-21, 25-20 and 25-18.
Kull and Cousin led the way for the Cougars, finishing with 10 and 12 kills, respectively.
Barry had six kills and seven digs to help out the defense for the Cougars while the setter, Lopez, finished with 29 assists.
Kull was not the only Cougar men’s volleyball player to win an award. First-year outside hitter Anthony Huang made the 2014 GLC All-Academic Team.
The team made some strides this season by winning a couple games on the road compared to last season’s 0-11 record.
They finished with a .500 record in conference play on their way to a berth in the semi-finals of the conference tournament.
The Cougars will learn from this season and be back next year with excellent young talent that will hopefully compensate for the loss of four seniors.
Be prepared to cheer for the Cougars next season as they will attempt to improve and be ready to try again in 2015.
Damone Griffin
Sports Editor
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