FREDERICK, Md. – The Hood College men's volleyball team fell in a home tri-match to Middle Atlantic Conference opponent Misericordia and non-conference foe Marymount, losing 3-0 to the Cougars and 3-1 to the Saints.
Set Scores
Misericordia won 25-23, 25-16, 25-20 over Hood.
The Saints defeated the Blazers 25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21.
Inside the Box Score
Charles Casas (Rehoboth Beach, Del./Cape Henlopen High School) racked up 28 kills across both matches.
Gael Bravo (Lanham, Md./Bowie High School) totaled 29 assists on the day.
Bravo and
Sean Seely (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage High School) both finished with 12 digs in the afternoon.
Seely added four aces to his day total.
How it Happened – Misericordia
Hood found themselves down 6-1 early in the first set, but a 7-3 run later in the set gave the Blazers a 12-11 lead. After both teams exchanged points for several rallies, kills from
Brendan Stutz (Frederick, Md./Oakdale) and Casas gave Hood an 18-16 advantage, but four straight points from Misericordia gave itself a lead it would not relinquish with the Blazers unable to force overtime before falling behind 1-0 in the match.
The Cougars came out swinging again to start set two, taking a quick 9-5 lead. Three kills from Casas and an ace from
Zander Kirchner (Lewisberry, Pa./Red Land) kept Hood within one for quite a while, but five straight points by Misericordia gave the visitors an 18-12 lead, eventually closing out the set with another five-point run and putting the Blazers in danger of being swept.
Three aces in five serves put the Cougars ahead again in the third set, but three straight points with a kill from Stutz and an ace from Seely got Hood within two. It would not be able to get closer until later, when a 6-1 Blazers run got them within one point at 19-18, but they could not do enough to force a fourth set, as Misericordia finished the match and completed the 3-0 sweep.
How it Happened – Marymount
After each team got a multi-point run to start the first set of the final match of the day, they would exchange points for the rest of the first half, but with Marymount holding a 16-14 lead, Hood put up four straight points to jump into the lead. The Saints tied it up immediately with two points of their own, and despite the Blazers holding a late 22-20 lead, Marymount would finish with a 5-1 run to steal the set and take the early 1-0 match advantage.
A 5-1 run by the Saints put Hood in a decent hole to start set two, holding a 17-13 lead halfway through the set. The Blazers would not go down without a fight though, as a 7-2 run from them put them in the lead. Unfortunately, Hood would only get one more point the rest of the set with the Saints one set away from handing the Blazers their second sweep of the day.
With their backs against the wall, Hood started off the fourth set with three straight points, and although Marymount retook the lead at 8-5 shortly after, the Blazers kept themselves in striking distance, eventually taking a 20-18 lead late in the set. Hood scored four of the next five points to put themselves in position to force a fourth set and held off a potential comeback from the Saints to take the set and keep the match going.
Marymount struck back quickly in the fourth set, building up an 11-6 lead early on. The Blazers got within two shortly after but could not get more than two kills at a time after three straight, with the Saints finishing the set out and taking the final match of the day.
Up Next
Hood takes on MAC foe Messiah at home Thursday, February 27 at 7 p.m.
