The Virginia Wesleyan University men's volleyball team (8-1, 1-0 ODAC) went 2-0 today with 3-1 wins over Eastern and Marymount. Beating Eastern 25-17, 20-25, 26-24, and 25-15, and defeated Marymount 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, and 25-16.
Game One:
JaMarhe Wills led the offense with 28 kills, with a .479 hitting percentage, two service aces, five digs, and two block assists.
Grant Younie had 13 kills, one assist, one block assist, and 10 digs, and
Siah Hall had nine kills, one block assist, and five digs.
The Marlins started the game strong, building an 8-3 lead early in the set, but Eastern rallied with a 10-6 run to cut the lead to 14-13. The Marlins countered with a 5-1 run to take a 19-14 lead and kept up the pressure the rest of the set, outscoring Eastern 6-3 to win set one 25-17.
The Eagles jumped out to a 3-1 lead early in the second set, but the Marlins rallied with an 11-4 run to lead 12-7 midway through the set. However, the Eagles went on an 11-1 run to take an 18-13 lead and went on to win set two 25-20 to tie the match at 1-1.
In the third set, the two teams fought hard early, but VWU came out with a 6-5 lead before the Eagles went on a 5-1 run to take a 10-7 lead. Eastern held a lead at 15-11, but Virginia Wesleyan responded with an 8-2 run to hold a 19-17 lead late in the set. The Eagles went on a 3-1 run to tie the set at 20-20, but the Marlins fought hard and outscored the Eagles 6-4 to win the critical set three to lead 2-1.
With the momentum, the Marlins came out hot, jumping out to a 15-5 lead early in the fourth set. The Eagles stopped the bleeding with a 3-2 run to cut the lead to 17-8, but the two teams traded points, and Eastern was unable to mount a comeback, and VWU went on to win the set 25-15.
Game Two:
JaMarhe Wills had 25 kills, with an .800 winning percentage, two assists, one service ace, and three digs,
Siah Hall tallied 15 kills, with a .423 hitting percentage, one assist, one service ace, one block assist, and three digs, and
James Cromwell-Young had nine kills, with a .615 hitting percentage, one service ace, three solo blocks, and two block assists.
The Marlins scored the first points in the match, but Marymount outscored the Marlins 4-2 to lead 4-3 early in the set. VWU went on a 3-1 run to take a 6-5 lead, but the Saints scored back-to-back points to retake the lead to 7-6. Virginia Wesleyan rallied going on a 4-1 run to lead 10-8, but Marymount countered with a 4-1 run to lead 12-11. The Saints held a one points lead at 17-16, but the Marlins fought back and went on a 5-0 run to lead 21-17. Marymount responded with a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 22-21, but VWU outscored the host 3-2 to win the set 25-23.
Marymount started the second set hot, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. The Marlins chipped away at the host's lead to bring the score to 7-5, but then got on and went on a 3-0 run to take an 8-7 lead. The two teams fought hard and traded points to bring the score to 19-17, but then Marymount rallied with a 6-1 run to take the lead back at 23-20. VWU outscored the Saints 3-2 but was unable to close the gap, and the host won set two 25-23.
In the third set, Virginia Wesleyan built a 5-2 lead early in the set. However, the Saints responded with a 3-0 run to tie the set at 5-5. VWU countered with a 3-1 run to take an 8-6 lead, but the Saints came right back with a 6-2 run to lead 12-10. Two points later, with the Saints holding a 13-11 lead, the Marlins rallied with a 7-2 run to take a 19-15 lead. With the lead, Virginia Wesleyan went on to win set three 25-20.
A close start to the fourth set, as VWU saw themselves up 9-7 early. However, the Marlins offense put the pressure on and went on a 6-1 run to lead 15-8. The two teams traded points to bring the score to 18-13, but the Marlins rallied again with a 5-1 run to lead 23-14 and went on to win set four 25-16.
