Costa Mesa, Calif. – Senior libero Andres Velez (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/St. Francis), the program leader in career digs, became the first player in team history to collect 1,000 or more career digs after he came away with a team-best 11 to help the No. 2 ranked Saint Xavier University men's volleyball team (1-1/0-0 CCAC) earn a 3-0 victory over NCAA Division II Vanguard University (Calif.) Friday evening at the Freed Center for Leadership and Service in Costa Mesa, Calif. Velez now has 1,007 career digs, nearly 200 more than the next player, former standout Kyle Springer (2019-22), he added six assists. As a team, the Cougars posted a team attack percentage of .429 (48-9-91) to earn their first win of the 2026 campaign.

• Graduate student opposite hitter Matt Pennala (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach City/St. John Bosco) led the SXU attack with 17 kills on a stellar .577 attack percentage (17-2-26). He also had 10 digs for his second consecutive double-double, as we as an assist and a service ace.
• Junior outside hitter Caydann Cox (Helena, Mont./Jamestown/Jamestown) was also tough at the net, coming away with 16 kills on an impressive .406 attack percentage (16-3-32). He added four digs, two blocks and an ace.
• Junior setter Cameron Daniels (Omaha, Neb./Millard West) tallied 38 assists to pace the offense, along with six digs, three blocks (two solos) and a kill.
• Senior middle blocker Tysen Myers (Apple Valley, Minn./Jamestown/Eastview) recorded six kills on an .857 attack percentage (6-0-7), four digs and a block.
• Freshman middle blocker Hayden Grange (Mission Viejo, Calif./Trabuco Hills) registered five kills, two blocks, two digs and a pair of service aces.
• Freshman outside hitter Owen Krause (Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) added collegiate firsts in digs (five), kills (three) and aces (one).

No. 2 Saint Xavier (1-1/0-0 CCAC) concludes its California trip with a contest at NCAA Division I Concordia University Irvine (Calif.) on Saturday, January 24 in Irvine, Calif. The match is scheduled for a 7:00 pm.