CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. - Today the Calvin men's volleyball team defeated the Little Giants from Wabash 3-0 with scores of 28-26, 25-20, and 25-19. With its win tonight, Calvin kept pace with Trine and Wittenberg as the three schools are tied for first place in the MCVL standings at 7-1 in league play through Friday night.
 
The first set was a battle down to the wire as the Knights pulled out the 28-26 victory behind six kills from junior Daniel Rua (Medellín, Colombia/Colegio Canadiense). Senior Gabriel Laughlin (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Michigan Aviation Academy), junior Justus Barbel (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora), and junior Nick Bultje (Byron Center, Mich./South Christian) each chipped in three kills.
 
Rua and Laughlin kept things rolling as they both added to their kills totals and boosted the Knight to the 25-20 victory in the second set. Calvin wasted no time finishing what they made quick work of the third set and picked up the clean 3-0 sweep.
 
The Knights finished the match with a .265 with their best performance of .216 coming in the first set. Rua led the way with eleven kills and an impressive hitting percentage of .450. Laughlin finished the match with eight kills, five blocks and led the team with five digs. Barbel and junior Brady Gudauskas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) each finished with four kills while freshman libero Brantley Tiede (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) notched six digs. Sophomore setter Ezekiel Jalan (Oconomowoc, Wis./Arrowhead) led the way in assists with twenty-eight.

COACHES COMMENTS: "Coach Mackenzi put in and called an incredible defensive game plan and the guys executed it so well," said head coach Aaron Sagraves. "We built leads in each set and other than a shaky stretch at the end of set one, we really controlled the play! Blocking and defense helped us against a really solid Wabash side and I'm proud of the execution to get a huge road win in MCVL play!"
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action tomorrow, Saturday, March 28th, when they take on Spalding at 1 PM in Louisville, Kentucky.