BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The D'Youville University Saints Men's Volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss in their last road game of the regular season to Long Island University on Saturday afternoon.

D'Youville University 1 vs LIU 3 – 28-16, 24-26, 20-25, 20-25
Set One
The Sharks took the early 6-1 lead in set one with the Saints lone point coming from a kill from Haven Wankerl (Cross Plains, Wisc. / Middleton). The Saints battled back going on two separate three-point runs to bring them within two at 9-11. As the score continued to climb, the Saints managed another three-point run to tie the game at 17 following a kill from Ian De Wilde (Lockport, N.Y. / Starpoint) and two Sharks errors.

From there, the lead went back and forth, but the Saints gained the 24-23 advantage following a kill from Tymek Brzoza (Tychy, Poland). The Sharks fought back until the game was tied at 26. Another kill from De Wilde and a Sharks error gave the Saints the last two points they needed and they took set one 28-26.

Set Two
Set Two started close with the score tied at four. The Sharks went on a five-point run to take the 9-4 lead, but the Saints fought back until they trailed 12-7. A kill from Shaun Vattakuzhiyil (Sugar Land, TX / Elkins) along with four Sharks errors tied the game at 12. Game play continued with both teams fighting for the lead until a kill from Vattakuzhiyil tied the game at 21. The Sharks would score three-in-a-row and the Saints fought back scoring three of their own to tie the game at 24. The Sharks would take the last two points of the game to win set two 26-24.

Set Three
LIU took their momentum into set three jumping up 10-6 and then climbing to an 18-10 lead following a series of runs. The Saints score four-in-a-row featuring kills from Ian De Wilde and Randy Adorno (Bayamon, Puerto Rico / Winter Park) to trail by three at 19-16, but the Sharks kept climbing. Wankerl and Vattakuzhiyil would each sneak in kills before the Sharks took set three 25-20.

Set Four
D'Youville got on top six four to start the fourth set following a kill from Ethan Robinson (Toronto, Canada) and a Shark error, but LIU would come back following a five-point run to take the 9-6 lead. After a kill from Vattakuzhiyil, the Saints would get within two at 13-15, but the Sharks would go on another five-point run to jump up 20-13.

The Saints fought to stay in the game and a kill from De Wilde put the Saints at 20, but the Sharks would take the last two points to win the third set 25-20 and the match 3-1.  

Saints Stats
Ian De Wilde led the Saints offense with 14 kills while Shaun Vattakuzhiyil recorded 12. Randy Adorno had another big game as the setter recording 43 assists. De Wilde also recorded eight digs while Tymek Brzoza shined on defense with six blocks.

Up Next
The D'Youville Men's Volleyball team returns home next weekend for two matchups against NEC opponent Saint Francis University on April 5th at 6:00 PM and April 6th at 4:00 PM.