NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. – The D'Youville University Men's Volleyball team fell 3-0 to Merrimack College on Friday night on the road.
D'Youville University 0 at Merrimack College 3 – 20-25, 27-29, 13-25
Set One
Matchplay started even between the Saints and Warriors after a kill from
Haven Wankerl (Cross Plains, Wisc. / Middleton) tied the score at seven. The score continued to go back and forth until the Warriors went on a three-point run to jump up 17-15. The Saints worked to stay close, but the Warriors capitalized to bring the score to 23-18. A kill from
Ethan Robinson (Toronto, Canada) and a Warriors error brought the Saints to 20, but the Warriors would score two more to win the set 25-20.
Set Two
The Warriors continued their momentum into set two and jumped out to a quick 7-5 lead. The Saints came right back and took the 8-7 lead after a Warriors error and kills from
Ian De Wilde (Lockport, N.Y. / Starpoint) and
Randy Adorno (Bayamon, Puerto Rico / Winter Park). Again, the Warriors retook the lead and held it until the Saints had a kill from De Wilde and a service ace from Adorno to tie the game at 19. The score remained tied until Wankerl put the Saints ahead at 27-26, but the Warriors would score three in a row to win the second set 29-27.
Set Three
The Saints found themselves ahead in the third set after jumping out to an 8-7 lead. The Warriors would then come back to score six points compared to the Saints one to take the 13-9 lead. The Warriors continued to climb until the score was 24-12.
Shaun Vattakuzhiyil (Sugar Land, TX / Elkins) had the final kill for the Saints before the Warriors would take the third set 25-13 and the match 3-0.
Saints Stats
Ian De Wilde and
Shaun Vattakuzhiyil both recorded 11 kills on the night.
Randy Adorno racked up 32 assists, one service ace, and four digs. The Saints as a team recorded 36 kills on the night compared to the Warriors 35.
Up Next
The Saints stay east for another NEC matchup against Sacred Heart University tomorrow, February 17th at 7:00pm in Fairfield, Connecticut.
