WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Neumann University Men's Volleyball team dropped two matches at a tri-match on Saturday afternoon, Falling to the hosts, King's College, 3-0, and to Elizabethtown College, 3-1.
In the day's opening match against King's
Trey Edmonds led the offensive attack with eight kills with
Veryl Burns getting four.
Noah Banaag had 11 assists while
Christian DeMarco had 14 digs.
King's got off to a quick start by taking an 8-3 lead early on. Neumann grabbed two points in a row but rattled off four straight to extended the lead to seven. With the score at 13-7, the Monarchs went on a run that saw them score six of eight to take a 19-9 lead, on their way to a 25-13 first set win.
Neumann kept the second set close but with King's up 6-5, the Monarchs raced ahead to go up 10-6. The Knights responded with the next point but King's exploded on a 10-0 run for a 20-7 lead. King's stayed in control on won the set, 25-12.
In the third, it started slow with the score equal at three. King's went on to score five of the next six for an 8-4 lead. Neumann was able to get back within one at 9-8 but the Monarchs powered on for a 14-9 lead. They then went on nine-point run to lead 23-10. Although the Knights went on a four-point lead late, King's ended the match with a 25-15 third set victory.
In the second match of the day,
Victor John paced the offense with eight kills while Edmonds and
Isaiah Thomas had seven each. Banaag had 25 assists and DeMarco had 11 digs.
Still reeling from the first match, Neumann fell behind against Elizabethtown, 8-1. To the Knights' credit, they did not hang their heads as they started to claw back into the set and eventually pulled within two at 12-10. The Blue Jays extended the lead again at 17-13 but a five point run gave Neumann the lead at 18-17. The Knights got up by three at 21-18 and were able to hold on for the 25-22 set win.
Neumann used the momentum of that win to start the second with a 7-6 lead. Elizabethtown responded with a four point push to take a 10-7 edge. Neumann fought back to tie it at 11 but scored 11 of the next 12 points to take control at 22-12, on their way to a 25-14 win, evening the match at one set each.
The Blue Jays started the third very quickly taking an 8-2 lead. They were able to extend their advantage to 16-7 before the Knights scored three in a row to get within six at 16-10. With the score at 20-12, Elizabethtown scored the last five points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set, Neumann fell behind, 6-2, and were kept at arm's length throughout much of the set. The Knights got back with one at 17-16 but two 3-0 runs by the Blue Jays made it 23-18, on their way to a 25-21 win, grabbing the match.
Neumann (6-7) will be back in action on Saturday, March 8
th, when they host Pratt Institute to open up the United East Conference schedule. The match is slated to begin at 1:00 PM.
