Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 La Crosse, Wis. – Junior outside hitter
Matt Pennala (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach City/St. John Bosco) combines for 31 kills and sophomore outside hitter
Jan Lopuch (Krakow, Poland/I Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace Sportowego) collected 26 kills over two matches to lead the No. 13 ranked Saint Xavier University men's volleyball team (2-5/1-0 CCAC) to a pair of victories at the Viterbo University (Wis.) Tri-Match Saturday afternoon in La Crosse, Wis. The Cougars defeated the host V-Hawks in their Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) opener in four sets (25-17, 19-25, 25-23, 25-19) to earn their first win of the 2024 campaign. SXU than swept No. 7 University of Jamestown (N.D.) (25-21, 29-27, 25-18) to hand the Jimmies their first loss of the season in nine matches.
Match One:
- Pennala led Saint Xavier with a match-high 17 kills against VU. He added seven digs, three service aces and a block.
- Lopuch finished with 13 kills, two aces, two assists and a pair of blocks.
- Senior middle blocker John Glennon (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) collected eight kills and a season-high seven blocks (one solo).
- Freshman setter Cameron Daniels (Omaha, Neb./Millard West) dished out 33 assists, along with five digs, three kills and two blocks.
- Redshirt junior outside hitter Vejas Cuplinskas (Riverside, Ill./Riverside Brookfield) came away with seven kills and a dig.
- Fifth-year senior middle blocker Drew Ehlers (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) posted six kills, a block and a service ace.
- Fifth-year senior setter Christian Oviedo (Brea, Calif./Concordia-Irvine/Servite) recorded 12 assists and five digs.
- Sophomore libero Andres Velez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/St. Francis) scooped up 17 digs and had a service ace.
- Junior outside hitter Sean Carey (Skokie, Ill./Niles West) chipped in three blocks (one solo) and an ace.
Match Two:
- Pennala registered a team-leading 14 kills and he added four digs, two service aces and a block.
- Lopuch was efficient at the net with 13 kills on a .545 attack percentage (13-1-22), along with five digs and three blocks.
- Daniels finished with 44 assists, seven digs and three kills.
- Carey posted a season-high nine kills, while adding nine digs and a block.
- Ehlers recorded seven kills on a .462 attack percentage (7-1-13), three blocks and a dig.
- Glennon totaled seven kills and two block assists.
- Velez registered a match-high 13 digs and he had five assists.
No. 13 Saint Xavier (2-5/0-0 CCAC) returns to the Shannon Center to face Judson University (Ill.) in a CCAC match on Tuesday, February 13. The contest is scheduled for a 7:00 first serve.
