Men’s volleyball team defeated at Adrian in four sets

ADRIAN, Mich. – The Olivet College men's volleyball team won the first set before Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) rival Adrian College won the next three sets to beat the Comets sets this evening at the Merillat Sport & Fitness Center.

• Final Score: Adrian defeated Olivet 24-26, 25-16, 25-19, 25-21
• Location: Merillat Sport & Fitness Center; Adrian, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 8-13 overall, 1-5 MCVL; Adrian 15-10 overall, 2-4 MCVL

• In the first set, Olivet led by two points twice. After the second time at 9-7, the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 and force the Comets to call their first timeout. The run continued after the timeout, as Adrian scored two more points for a 15-9 lead. The Comets came back with five straight points to close the gap to a point. The Bulldogs then went ahead by two points on three occasions. Following the last time at 23-21, Olivet used a 3-0 run to get to set point and make Adrian call a timeout. The Bulldogs evened the score before a kill by sophomore Ethan Valente made the score 25-24. Valente then silenced the Adrian crowd with a service ace to give the set victory to the Comets.
• In the second set, the Bulldogs raced out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back for the wire-to-wire set win.
• The third set was back-and-forth, as neither team led by more than two points until Adrian went ahead 15-12. The Comets chipped away at their deficit and closed the difference to one point, 19-18. The Bulldogs ended the set on a 6-1 run.
• Adrian took a five-point lead, 9-4, early in the fourth set. Olivet battled back to trim its deficit down to a point, 11-10, but did not get any closer for the remainder of the set.

• Junior Deontay Thomas led Olivet with 11 kills, followed by junior Kai Hartman and sophomore Ethan Valente with nine and eight, respectively.
• Junior Everett Haynes had 25 set assists.
• Valente finished with a team-leading seven digs.

• Chase Heuer topped all players with 14 kills.
• Beck Fieldhouse tallied nine kills and four service aces.
• David Barona collected 25 set assists.
• Samuel Williams snagged a match-best 10 digs.

• Olivet plays its final two matches of the season on the road next weekend. On Friday night, the Comets play Fontbonne (Mo.) University at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, they face Wabash (Ind.) College at 2 p.m.