MADISON, N.J.— Eastern University Men's Volleyball earned a four-set win over Ramapo to open the day, but they could not complete the sweep as the host Drew Univerity Rangers won the final two sets to escape with five-set win in the final game of the tri-match.
Kaodi Wokocha finished the day with 30 kills,
Colby Arvesen had 26 kills, and
Symir Byrd finished with 36 digs.
Led by Wokocha's 16 kills on 28 swings, the Eagles overpowered the Roadrunners (2-4) in the opening match. Eastern won the first set 25-10 but stumbled to a 25-19 loss in the second. Down 21-16 in the third, the Eagles got a three-point run after an Arvesen kill with
Ronan Landis serving.
Connor Tucholski had kills on either side of a Landis ace. After a Ramapo sideout, Arevsen answered with a kill and then went back to serve. Tucholski combined with
Trey Broussard for a block to tie the score at 22 and then delivered his third kill of the set to put the Eagles up. Eastern earned the sideout and claimed the set at 25-23 on a Broussard serve. Landis had 10 of his 38 assists in the third set.
Wokocha delivered seven kills and Arvesen had four as the Eagles won the fourth 25-17. Byrd had 15 digs in the match, and
Kadin Kolstad had 13. Arvesen finsihed with 15 kills.
The Eagles scuffled out of the gates in their opening game of the second match. They had only six kills and seven hitting errors as the Rangers hit .352 to win 25-12.
The same two teams played the second set, but it looked a lot different. The Eastern defense picked up 20 digs and only gave up a single ace on the way to a 25-23 win. The set had seven led changes with the last one coming as the Eagles erased a 21-17 deficit with
Landon Mattiace serving. Arvesen put the Eagles up 23-22 with a kill, and after a sideout, Broussard gave the Eagles a 24-23 lead. Broussard then combined with Tucholski with a block to level the match at 1-1.
Wokocha had six kills in the third set, and somehow the Eagles held a lead throughout despite eight hitting errors and hitting only .071. They grabbed a 2-1 lead with a 25-23 win.
Over the final two sets, Drew came up with eight blocks and hit nearly .400 to pull away with the win. The Eagles (3-5) are now 0-3 in five-set matches.
The Eagles will be back in action at Neumann University on Thursday.
