GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin University men's volleyball team remained unbeaten in MIAA play thanks to a 3-0 win over The University of Olivet by the scores of 25-13, 25-16 and 25-21 on Thursday at Van Noord Arena.
Calvin (5-2, 2-0 MCVL) hit .324 on the attack for the match while holding Olivet (4-8, 0-1 MCVL) to -.014 on the attack overall.
The Knights took control of the match midway through the opening set when
Brady Gudauskas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) served eight straight points to push a 12-9 Calvin lead to a 20-9 advantage with four service aces during the run.
Daniel Rua (Medellin, Colombia/Colegio Canadiense) led the Calvin attack with three kills in the set.
Calvin continued to roll in the second set as
Nick Bultje (Byron Center, Mich./South Christian), Rua and
Gabriel Laughlin (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Michigan Aviation Academy) each recorded three kills and Laughlin added five digs to propel the Knights to a 25-16 set win and a 2-0 overall lead in the match.
The Comets looked to extend the match in the third set, but the Knights' defense answered the bell with seven blocks, led by five from Bultje and three from Laughlin while Gudauskas added five kills to lead the attack and push the Knights over the top with a 25-21 set win.
Gudauskas led the Knights with eight kills and hit .467 for the match while Rua, Bultje and Laughlin each finished with six kills. Laughlin led the team with eight digs, while
Ezekiel Jalan (Ononomowoc, Wis./Arrowhead) finished with 26 assists, six digs and three kills.
COACH'S COMMENT: "It's a conference win," head coach
Aaron Sagraves said. "We just played sloppy. Olivet is a strongly improved team. Gabe is doing a great job with that team. They're young and athletic and they've got a lot of momentum with three straight wins coming into today. We know we still have work to do with matches this weekend."
NEXT UP: Calvin returns to action tomorrow (Friday, February 13) for the Calvin Invite tournament with matches against Franklin College (1:00 PM in Van Noord Arena) and St. Norbert College (8:00 PM in Hoogenboom Gymnasium).
