FREDERICK, Md. – After the visiting Bison of Gallaudet University came back to force a fifth set, the Hood College men's volleyball team rallied to stop the comeback for a 3-2 victory.
Set Scores
The Blazers won 25-18, 25-27, 25-19, 21-25, 15-10.
Inside the Box Score
Charles Casas (Rehoboth Beach, Del./Cape Henlopen High School) led the team with a career-high 29 kills, also finishing with a team-high 14 digs.
Sean Seely (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage High School) ended the night right behind him with 25 kills.
Cameron Nugent (Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional) and Casas both served up four aces.
Blake Catts (Rehoboth Beach, Del./Cape Henlopen) finished the match with three total blocks.
Gael Bravo (Lanham, Md./Bowie High School) had a career-high 47 assists.
How it Happened
The opening set started off with a shootout, as both teams exchanged two-point runs for a while until Hood went on a 7-1 run to take a 14-8 lead, forcing a Gallaudet timeout. The Bison would only manage to get within four points the rest of the way, as the teams exchanged points until the Blazers closed things out with three points in a row.
Gallaudet answered quickly in the next set, putting Hood in a 6-2 hole. The Blazers answered quickly though, as Casas and Seely teamed up to tie things at eight. It turned out that was not everything the Bison had in the tank though, as they went on a run of their own to regain a 16-11 lead. Although Gallaudet seemed to have things locked up, Hood came back with six straight points to regain the lead. After some more back-and-forth, the Blazers were a point away from going up two sets at 24-22, but the Bison forced overtime and managed to get two straight points to tie the match at one.
Set three again looked like it would go quickly as Gallaudet raced out to an 8-3 lead, but Hood slowly chipped away at the lead and ended up taking a 12-10 lead with five straight points. Although the Bison tied it up shortly after, the Blazers would regain the lead and hold it, retaking the match lead and looking like they would win it in the next set.
Neither team could maintain any momentum in the third set as the score got to 16-16 before Gallaudet went on the first run of the set with five straight points. Hood, however, immediately responded with five straight points of their own, but that would be all it would get, as the Bison scored the next four points to tie the match and send it to a decisive fifth set.
The Blazers kicked things off their way in the final set, getting the first four points of the set and forcing Gallaudet to use a timeout. The teams switched sides with Hood leading 8-3, and that looked like it flipped a switch in the Bison, as they proceeded to score three straight points. That two-point margin was the closest they would get though, as the Blazers maintained a four-point lead the rest of the way, snuffing out the comeback at the last second.
For the Opponent
Zachary Bippus led Gallaudet with 17 kills.
Troy Holcomb ended the evening with 31 assists.
Up Next
Hood heads to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania for a non-conference tri-match with Hilbert College and Wilson College Sunday, February 9 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
