(PHILIPPI, W.Va.) – The Thomas More University men's volleyball team completed their trip to West Virginia Saturday afternoon with a thrilling 3-2 (25-19, 16-25, 18-25, 25-17, 15-9) victory over NCAA Division II opponent Alderson Broaddus University.
The Saints now are 1-1 overall this season after their win.
- Set one began with a 13-13 stalemate.
- The Saints then used a big 7-2 rally to take a comfortable 20-15 lead.
- Senior Jacob Wehrman (Milford, Ohio/Milford) led the charge with two kills during the rally.
- Kills from four different Saints down the stretch coupled with a Battlers service error capped the first set off at 25-19, Thomas More's first set victory of the 2023 season.
- The Battlers jumped out to a 20-11 lead in set two and didn't look back, tying the match up at 1-1.
- The Saints trailed by just one at 12-11 in the third set, but Alderson Broaddus used an 8-2 momentum-swinging rally to take a 20-13 advantage.
- This was enough to push by the Saints in the set and take a 2-1 lead.
- Thomas More jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the fourth set, needing to win to keep the match alive.
- Two kills from Mason Collver (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville), Will Busken (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder), and Wehrman led the way during this stretch.
- The Battlers pushed the lead down to four at 13-9, but the Saints snatched the momentum right back with an 8-1 rally to make it 21-10. This was created by a few Battler errors and two Ben Albers (Delhi, Ohio/Elder) aces.
- Alderson Broaddus tried to push their way back into the set late, taking advantage of Thomas More errors, but it wasn't enough as it went to a deciding fifth set.
- The Saints grabbed a quick 6-3 lead in the fifth, fueled by five Battler mishaps.
- The lead was down to one at 8-7 Thomas More, but the Saints rallied for a small 3-0 run to push their lead back to four at 11-7.
- That was all they would need, holding the Battlers to just nine points in the final set and coming away with the 15-9 set win and 3-2 match victory.
- Collver led the team with nine kills, while Busken was right behind him with eight.
- Senior Jonathan Litzler (Edgewood, Ky./St. Henry) picked up 13 digs in the match.
- Conner Young (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) dished out 25 assists.
- The Saints had 10 aces as a team, led by a pair from Albers, Busken, and Young.
- They took advantage of 23 Battlers service errors during the match.
The Saints head to their crosstown rival Mount St. Joseph University for their next match on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. before their home opener in the Connor Convocation Center on Friday night.
