Box Score GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Today the Calvin men's volleyball team opened up MCVL conference play when it defeated the Bulldog of Adrian in three straight sets with scores of 25-20, 25-19, and 25-21. With today's win the Knights improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in MCVL play while Adrian dropped to 0-1 in conference play and 1-6 overall.
 
In the first set, both teams battled for momentum as there were a total of nine ties and five lead changes early on. Halfway through the set a kill from Justus Barbel (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) gave the Knights a slim 15-14 lead and from that point forward they never looked back. Graduate student Gabriel Laughlin (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Michigan Aviation Academy) led the way with five kills and one block while junior Nick Bultje (Byron Center, Mich./South Christian) chipped in four kills and one block.
 
The intensity from the first set carried over into the second as the score remained within a few points throughout most of the set. However, led by junior Brady Gudauskas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) who notched five kills in the second, the Knights came alive and ended the set on an 8-3 run to claim a 2-0 lead over the Bulldogs. 
 
The Bulldogs continued to put up a fight in the third set as there were ten ties and five lead changes throughout. With the score tied 18-18, Calvin went on a 4-0 run to take the lead and never looked back. The Knights, powered by Bultje's four kills in the third, won the set to pick up the 3-0 win over Adrian.
 
Calvin finished the match with a team hitting percentage of .360 with their best performance of .393 coming in the third set. Gudauskas ended as the Knights lead attacker with 10 kills and two service aces while Bultje was close behind with nine kills and two blocks. Laughlin finished the match with eight kills and seven digs while freshman libero Brantley Tiede (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) notched a team high eight digs. Sophomore setter Ezekiel Jalan (Oconomowoc, Wis./Arrowhead) had 38 assists in the match.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "I thought we played really well offensively, made some big plays down the stretch in each set and it's great to get win to start conference play," said head coach Aaron Sagraves. "Adrian spreads the ball so well, their setter does a really good job pin-to-pin and they're really tough to defend. We had a rocky defensive start in each set bit finished strong. Offensively, the more we can spread the ball around the better, we're going to be tough to defend and tonight we had five guys with at least six kills so I'll take that all day."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action tomorrow Saturday, February 7th when they travel to Chicago to compete against North Central at 2 PM (CT).