GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Tonight, the Calvin men's volleyball team defeated crosstown foe Cornerstone in a five-set thriller. With scores of 25-21, 22-25, 14-25, 25-23, and 15-12 the Knights claimed their eleventh straight victory to move to a 15-2 overall record.
 
In the first set the Knights got out to a hot start as sophomore Daniel Rua (Medellín, Colombia/Colegio Canadiense) led the way with four kills while senior Gabriel Laughlin (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Michigan Aviation Academy) recorded two service aces.
 
However, despite the early momentum from Calvin, the Golden Eagles (6-10) took control of the match as they won the next two sets and claimed a 2-1 lead. Now, with their backs against the wall, the Knights battled back as they took a quick lead in the fourth set and never looked back. Rua recorded a whopping seven kills while Justus Barbel (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) chipped in three to send the match into the final set.
 
Both teams fought for the advantage down the stretch as there were five lead changes and three ties in the fifth set. However, a timely kill from junior Brady Gudauskas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) gave the Knights an 8-7 lead and the rest was history. Calvin was in the driver's seat the rest of the way as it won the set 15-12 and picked up the 3-2 win.
 
The Knights finished the game with a .269 hitting percentage with their best performance of .448 coming in the fifth set. Rua finished with a season high 17 kills while also posting an impressive .389 hitting percentage. Gudauskas chipped in 14 kills while Barbel was close behind with 13 kills.
 
Sophomore Bryce Broekhuizen (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo) recorded four services aces while sophomore setter Ezekiel Jalan (Oconomowoc, Wis./Arrowhead) led the way with 52 assists. Jalan and Rua both recorded three block assists and freshman libero Brantley Tiede (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) notched a team high 17 digs.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "Heading into the fourth set our mindset was that we needed to find some grit," said head coach Aaron Sagraves. "We haven't been pushed like that this season and we didn't play well for the first few sets. We had to do a gut check and had to look at ourselves and commit to playing better volleyball on our side of the net. We did that much better in set four and five and our seniors and leaders did a nice job of coming up big in the end."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Tuesday, March 17th when they welcome Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) to Van Noord Arena for a 7 PM match.