ONU'S INAUGURAL SEASON CONCLUDES WITH A CCAC QUARTERFINAL EXIT

WHITING, Ind. – The six-seeded Olivet Nazarene University men's volleyball inaugural season ended Tuesday night after a 3-1 loss to the third-seeded Crimson Wave of Calumet College of St. Joseph in the quarterfinal of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Tournament. The Tigers finished with an 8-23 overall record with a sixth-place finish in the conference.

CCSJ kicked off the match going ahead 5-1 in the first set. Collier Kahaku Marquez's block and kill lit a spark for ONU to take their first lead, 10-9. The home side quickly found a rhythm running a way with a 10-2 run followed with a 6-1 run to claim the first set 25-15.

The Tigers responded by tying up the match 1-1 through two sets. ONU never trailed which included a 6-2 fast start. Calumet closed the gap and tied it up 13-13. Jaiton Kamaunu's kill began a 6-0 run to create a 24-17 advantage. The run saw two blocks from Jackson Harvey with assists from Sterling Staranchuk. Staranchuk concluded the run with a kill assisted by Hunter DeMello. The Crimson wave did not go away easy as they fought off four set-points before a service error cut their comeback short.

The third-seeded team in the conference took back the advantage in the match after winning the third set 25-17. CCSJ's Francis Hauze streaked for three service aces within a 6-0 run to build a 13-6 lead. The Tigers needed to run of their own to get back in the set but could not sustain one. A 3-0 rally at the end was not enough before the Indiana side won the set-point.

The match ended after four with a final set score of 25-17. CCSJ broke the game open with a 7-0 run midway through to hold the 15-6 advantage. Kamaunu recorded two kills in a 3-0 run to give Olivet some life. Calumet concluded the night with a 5-2 run and advanced to the CCAC semifinals.

GAME VITALS

Fist Set: CCSJ 25, ONU 15 | Second Set: ONU 25, CCSJ 21 | Third Set: CCSJ 25, ONU 17 | Fourth Set: CCSJ 25, ONU 17

Records: Calumet 16-5 (10-4 CCAC) | Olivet Nazarene: 8-23 (6-8 CCAC)

Location: Rittenmeyer Center | Calumet College of St. Joseph | Whiting, Ind.

QUICK HITS

• Slaughter registered a team-high 31 total attacks.
• Kahaku Marquez had a team-best .600 kill percentage recording 3 kills.
• James Ballance tallied a team-high 8 digs in the match.
• Hunter DeMello tallied his 9^th match of the year with 20 or more assists (23).

A LOOK BACK

In their first year as a varsity program, the ONU men's volleyball team won their first game in program history over Maranatha Baptist 3-0 on Feb. 11. Despite starting 0-13, The Tigers turned it around to finish the regular season with an 8-9 record. Olivet got hot at the very end winning four of their last five regular-season matches to earn a berth in the CCAC Tournament as the sixth and final team. The Purple and Gold will look to carry this momentum into next season as their roster is comprised of 16 underclassmen.

--ONU—

*Contact: Patrick Kaindl, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, pkaindl@olivet.edu