GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - After falling to Baldwin Wallace last night, the Calvin men's volleyball team bounced back with a win against Mount Union in Van Noord Arena today. The Knights claimed the win in four sets with scores of 25-20, 23-25, 25-17 and 25-17 to move to a 17-3 overall record and a 5-1 MCVL conference record.
 
Both teams found themselves locked in a battle as there were four lead changes and fourteen ties throughout the first set. However, a timely kill from senior Gabriel Laughlin (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Michigan Aviation Academy) gave the Knights a 21-20 edge late in the set. Laughlin then went back to the service line where he delivered four straight serves, including two aces, and boosted Calvin to a set one victory.
 
The Purple Raiders fought back as they won the second set before Calvin found their rhythm in the third set. Laughlin had six kills during the set while Justus Barbel (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) chipped in four kills as Calvin took the 2-1 lead.
 
In the third set, the Knights jumped out in front early and never relented the lead. The Purple Raiders tried to hang around but Calvin got on a roll as they closed out the set on a 10-3 run and walked away with the 3-1. 
 
Calvin finished the game with an impressive hitting percentage of .304 with their best performance of .387 coming in the second set.
 
Laughlin, the lone senior on the team, celebrated senior day in style as he finished the match with a team high nineteen kills and three service aces. Barbel finished with fifteen kills and two block assists while junior Brady Gudauskas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) chipped in ten kills and three service aces. Sophomore setter Ezekiel Jalan (Oconomowoc, Wis./Arrowhead) recorded a team high thirty-eight assist and freshman libero Brantley Tiede (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) notched a team high seventeen digs.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "I think that today showed the grit of our team," said head coach Aaron Sagraves. "Last night was tough and we got our butts kicked so to come back against a really good Mount Union team, the defending conference champions, we were able to figure it out. It wasn't pretty at times, and I don't think either team would say that was a clean match, but we found a way to win. Winning games like this one shows what it takes to get to the top of the conference, and we've got a chance. We've got three conference games left including a tough one next week against Wabash so we're looking forward to getting after it."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Monday, March 23rd when they travel to Palos Heights, Illinois to take on Trinity Christian College at 6 PM (CT).