GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Today the Calvin men's volleyball team opened play at the Calvin Invite against St. Norbert. After going down 0-2 after two sets the Knights fought all the way back to force a fifth set before ultimately falling 3-2.
 
In the first set of the evening the Knights were led by freshman Bryce Broekhuizen (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) as he recorded four kills. Senior Gabriel Laughlin (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Michigan Aviation Academy) was close behind with three kills while freshman Gavin Barber (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) notched four digs. However, after taking an early lead, St. Norbert carried the momentum throughout the set and picked up the 25-21 win.
 
As the second set got underway it proved to be much more of a battle as both teams matched each other point for point. At one point the Knights claimed a 16-14 lead before some self-inflicted errors allowed St. Norbert to once again pull ahead. Calvin showed fight at the end of the set as they fended off three set points before succumbing to St. Norbert's attacks and going down 0-2.
 
In the third set, with Calvin trailing 19-24, sophomore Brady Gudauskas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) stepped up to the service line where he went on a run. After five straight serves, two of which were aces, the Knights successfully fended off five match points and won the set 27-25.
 
The Knights kept the momentum rolling into the four set where they put up a .281 hitting percentage, their best of the match. Sophomore Nick Bultje (Byron Center, Mich./South Christian) and freshman Jake Davidson (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) each recorded kills during key times as Calvin won the set 25-23 and sent the match into a tiebreaker fifth set.
 
In the final set of the evening both teams battled to the end as they left everything they had on the court. After being neck-and-neck throughout the set St. Norbert finally claimed the upper hand as they won 16-14 and the Knights fell 3-2.
 
Calvin finished the match with a .199 team hitting percentage while recording 51 kills, 48 digs and 8 service aces. Laughlin finished as the lead attacker for the Knights with 11 kills while Broekhuizen was close behind with 11 kills. Gudauskas finished with 9 kills while Bultje had 7 kills and a block to his name.
 
Freshman setter Ezekiel Jalan (Oconomowoc, Wis./Arrowhead) had a team high 19 assists while junior libero Parker Steele (Boscobel, Wis./Boscobel) recorded 11 digs. 
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "We were able to battle back to give St. Norbert ran for their money," said head coach Spencer Fredrick. "Unfortunately, we came up short and our own service and hitting errors were to blame even though we had a great service run from Brady and Nick at key points. We're hopefully able to correct some things and make it competitive tomorrow against Rockford."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action tomorrow Saturday, February 15th at 10AM for day two of the Calvin Invite against Rockford University.