ST. LOUIS, Mo. – In two tightly contested battles, the MSOE men's volleyball couldn't create second half momentums, falling to both Maryville University and Fontbonne University.

RESULTS
MSOE RAIDERS – 1
Maryville – 3

MSOE RAIDERS – 2
Fontbonne - 3

HOW IT HAPPENED

• vs. Maryville
  • It was a narrow battle in the early stages as it was tied 7-7, followed by a 4-0 run from Maryville (7-9, 0-0 DI Independent) to assert their lead the rest of the set. MSOE (4-10, 2-0 NACC) sparked a 9-3 run to get within two, but the Saints ended the first set on a 5-0 run to win 25-18.
  • The same tight battle was shown to start the second set, but the Raiders asserted themselves with a 6-1 run midway through to take a 12-7 lead led by the serving of Tommy Clausz. The Raiders held their lead steadily the rest of the set to win 25-20 to tie it 1-1. The Saints regained their momentum with a 7-2 lead to begin the third set. Their defense forced the Raiders to not do anything offensively, holding them to a .000 attacking percentage, running away with the third set 25-18.
  • The Raiders forced a more tightly contested battle in the fourth set as Ted Simpson and Ian Glashagel helped improve their attacking percentage, but not enough as the Saints eventually ran away late winning 25-20 to win the match 3-1.
• vs. Fontbonne
  • Fontbonne (9-6, 0-0 MCVL) took the momentum right away taking a 7-2 lead to begin the first set. They carried the momentum the rest of the way taking the set 25-18.
  • Simpson took over to begin the second set for the Raiders starting with a kill and then a 4-0 run with 2 service errors. The Griffins worked their way back slowly throughout the remainder of the set, tying the set at 16. Clausz helped bring the spark back to the Raiders as they came away with the set 25-21.
  • No side could find a rhythm in the third set, forcing all the way past the 25-point mark. It was John Wolf who was the hero with the kill that set up the serve for Aidan Charapata. The Raider defense locked in and shut down the Griffin offense forcing an attack error to take the third set 29-27.
  • The tight battle stayed to begin the fourth set, but a 6-1 run from the Griffins gave them the clear momentum with a 25-20 set four win to force a fifth set. The Griffins kept their second half heroics going as the Raider defense had no answer, winning 15-12.

WHO'S ON DECK
The Raiders keep their road trip going as they head to Quincy to take on the Hawks tomorrow, March 1^st at 7 PM.

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