Falcons Fall to Saints

ARLINGTON, Va. - In the first game of their east coast trip, the Concordia University Wisconsin men's volleyball team fell to 0-3 on Friday after dropping to the Saints of Marymount (Va.) in four sets, 27-29, 25-23, 19-25, 16-25.

The initial set laid the groundwork for a fiercely competitive matchup. Trailing 15-12, the Falcons orchestrated a 6-1, surging ahead 18-16.

During this stretch, the Falcons got contributions from sophomore Will Wood (Savage, Minn.), senior Spencer Herman (Kimberly, Wis.), and sophomore Tate Miller (Anthem, Ariz.).

A kill from sophomore Parker Pearson (Keller, Texas) propelled CUW to a 20-18 advantage as the set progressed. Despite additional kills from Will Wood maintaining a two-point margin at 21-19, the Saints went on a 4-0 run to claim a 23-21 lead.

Ultimately, a kill from Tate Miller would stop the Marymount run and put the Falcons within one of the Saints. But the Saints would again take the slim two-point advantage to bring set point at 24-22.

Once again, Tate Miller stepped up and converted on two straight sets from junior Logan Kebisek (Brookfield, Wis.) to level the score at 24-24.

The scoring would then alternate between the teams as the game would be tied at 27 before the Saints would score two straight to secure the first-set victory, 29-27.

Meanwhile, the second set would see Marymount pull out to a quick lead and secure that margin for the majority of the set before the Falcons rattled off five-straight points to take the one-point lead at 19-18, as Will Wood had two consecutive kills followed by two-straight service aces from junior Lucas Beres (Germantown, Wis.).

After briefly retaking the lead, the Saints would commit two errors to give CUW the 22-21 advantage.

However, as the Saints looked to make a comeback, the Falcons scored three straight to take the second set, which was capped off by a kill from Andy Ellingham.

In the third set, the Saints once again established a lead in the early parts of the frame. However, unlike the second set, the Falcons could not overcome the deficit, as the Saints took the third set 25-19.

The fourth set saw the Falcons go on a 3-0 run to cut the Saint's lead to 10-12 as Spencer Herman had a service ace to bring it to that score.

However, the Saints took control of the set from then on and came away with the 25-16 win to clinch the match.

Spencer Herman led the way for the Falcons, amassing 15 kills, while Tate Miller had 11 and Will Wood had 8. A trio of Falcons had a pair of service aces, as Andy Ellinghman, Spencer Herman, and Lucas Beres all recorded two.

Logan Kebisek had 34 assists on the day.

Lucas Beres had a game-high four blocks in the effort, while Parker Pearson had nine digs.

The Falcons will have a quick turnaround and faceoff against Widener on Jan. 27 at noon EST.