CHESTER, Pa. – After a long hard-fought battle at the net, the Widener men's volleyball team fell short eight points in set five to the Soaring Eagles of Elmira College in a late Friday night match.
Following the loss, the Pride drop to 6-3 in regular season play and await a MAC opponent.
BY THE NUMBERS
HOW IT HAPPENED IN THE SCHWARTZ CENTER
On the evening, the men hit a .217 percentage, went 41 for 106 in successful sets, and had an almost percent reception percentage with a .919.
The Pride jumped to a quick point after a bad set from Elmira. Following a service error from Elmira's Ryan Mattes,
Nick Poulson helped the team extend the lead to five to make the score 11-6 in favor of the Pride. After some back and forth action between both sides, the Blue and Gold went on a 6-3 point run to end set one 25-19. In set one, the Pride saw a .579 hitting percentage.
Set two opened with a back and forth battle with Widener's first point being score by a service error from the Soaring Eagles. Halfway through the set, the Pride silences the Soaring Eagles and went on a 5-0 run to make the score 15-12 with points being scored from two Cox kills, a Christ kill, and a couple attack errors. The rest of set two went back and forth with a
Michael Martino kill to set the Pride up 23-21. An Alex Vega service error earned the Pride their second set victory 25-22. Set two showed a .429 Pride hitting percentage and a .538 setting percentage.
Cox opened set three with a service ace to get the Pride on the board. After the middle part of set three, the Soaring Eagles found three points to give themselves a two-point advantage. Poulson and Beer quickly turned the tables back to the Pride to lead 13-12. With five points to go, Elmira found hitting success and went on a 4-0 run and eventually took set three 25-19. In set three, the Pride saw a .217 hitting percentage with Martino hitting at .500.
Beer again got the Pride on the board first with a kill from a Matchett assist. The Pride battled it out at the net to eventually earn three points to make the score 9-8 in favor of Elmira. The men kept it close until 17-15 after a Christ kill. The Soaring Eagles went on to take set four 25-18 to push the match to a fifth set. After three tiring sets, the Pride struggled to hit the ball received the ball at a .850 percentage.
Coming off a low hitting fourth set, the Pride looked to seal the match and walk away with a set 5 victory. After a quick Pride point on a hitting error, the men kept it close with a Christ kill from a Matchett assist. Elmira saw eight points first to initiate the side switch. Following the switch, the Soaring Eagles went on a 7-2 run to end set five 15-7 and earn the match victory. In set five, the Pride again struggled hitting to see a .133 hitting percentage.
UP NEXT
Widener hits the road to face Elizabethtown in a non-conference matchup. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
