CINCINNATI, Ohio - Today the Calvin men's volleyball team defeated the Lions of Mount St. Joseph 3-0 in a MCVL conference match up with scores of 25-16, 25-12, and 25-16. With today's win the Knights improved to 9-2 overall and 3-0 in MCVL play.
 
The Knights started the evening out with a bang as junior Justus Barbel (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) racked up four kills while senior Gabriel Laughlin (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Michigan Aviation Academy) and junior Brady Gudauskas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) chipped in three kills in the first set. Calvin recorded a blistering .750 hitting percentage as they took an early 1-0 lead over Mount St. Joseph.
 
Calvin continued their momentum into the second set as junior Daniel Rua (Medellín, Colombia/Colegio Canadiense) came alive and notched three kills to boost the Knights to a 2-0 lead. Defensively, they held the Lions to a -.037 hitting percentage, their lowest performance of the day.
 
The Knights kept things rolling as they finished up what they started as they dominated the third set and swept the Lions 3-0. Calvin finished the match with an impressive .537 hitting percentage with Laughlin finishing with a team high eight kills and four service aces. Barbel and Gudauskas each finished with six kills while junior Nick Bultje (Byron Center, Mich./South Christian) notched five kills. 
 
Freshman libero Brantley Tiede (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) led the team with seven digs while sophomore setter Ezekiel Jalan (Oconomowoc, Wis./Arrowhead) had 25 assists.

COACHES COMMENTS: "We played a clean match from start to finish and it was fun to see our offense be able to do what they did tonight," said head coach Aaron Sagraves. "We stayed disciplined on defense and allowed our offense to get into a nice rhythm early. I'm excited for tomorrow to go up against a very solid team in Wittenberg!"
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action tomorrow Saturday, February 21st when they take on Wittenberg in Springfield, Ohio at 1 PM.