GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Tonight the Calvin men's volleyball team wrapped up the Calvin Invite with a commanding 3-0 sweep over Rockford with scores of 25-15, 25-16, and 25-22. The Knights improve to 8-2 overall with the win.
 
In the first set the Knights hit a whopping .524 percent as they quickly took a 1-0 lead over the Regents. Senior Gabriel Laughlin (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Michigan Aviation Academy) led the way with six kills while sophomore setter Ezekiel Jalan (Oconomowoc, Wis./Arrowhead) chipped in ten assists.
 
Calvin carried its momentum into the second set where Jalan opened with a 6-0 serving run to give the Knights a boost. Rockford called an early timeout but it didn't do much to slow down the Knights as they easily claimed the second set. Junior Nick Bultje (Byron Center, Mich./South Christian) had a monster set as he notched five kills while junior Justus Barbel (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) chipped in three kills.
 
In the third set, junior Brady Gudauskas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) came alive and recorded four sets and helped boost the Knights to a dominant 3-0 victory over the Regents.
 
Calvin finished the match with an impressive .376 hitting percentage while holding Rockford to just a .110 hitting percentage. Gudauskas, Bultje, and Barbel all finished the match with nine kills while Jalan finished with twenty-nine assists. Gudauskas also led the team in digs with fourteen while Bultje recorded a team high four blocks. 
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "It was a great way to end a really solid weekend as may different players got to contribute today," said head coach Aaron Sagraves. "I was proud of the way we put the foot on the gas and executed on offense and defense.  Now we must work on some things going into a huge weekend of conference play at Mount Saint Joseph's and Wittenberg."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Friday, February 20th when they travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, to take on Mount St. Joseph at 7 PM.