Lebanon, Tenn. – The Maryville men's volleyball team nearly posted a sweep of three matches in Lebanon, Tenn., but went 2-1 on the day. The Saints defeated Cornerstone 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-19, beat Thomas More 16-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-22 but was narrowly edged out by Cumberland 20-25, 25-11, 25-23, 11-25, 18-16.
 
Cornerstone Recap
The Saints lost the opener but bounced back by hitting .650 in set two to tie the match. Maryville kept up the attack and notched a .379 hitting mark to take a 2-1 lead. The Saints jumped ahead early in the fourth set by scoring six of the first seven points. Maryville stayed in front and kept a small advantage up to 15-12. The Saints took an 18-14 advantage and took control with a 4-0 run. A kill by Jacob Fischer and a block by Victor Ganev and Fisher closed out the match. The Saints posted a season-high .339 hitting percentage in the match.
 
Thomas More Recap:
Victor Ganev led the way with 12 kills, and Mason Mortimer added 10 as the Saints rallied to down the Thomas More Saints. TMU hit more than .500 to take the first set. The Maryville defense held TMU to a .095 mark to even the match, and was even better in the third set at TMU was at -.111. Maryville was down 14-11 but used a 5-1 run to get ahead. The set was tied at 20-20 before Maryville scored four of the next five points before a Fischer kill ended the match.
 
Cumberland Recap:
The Saints held Cumberland to its lowest hitting percentage of the match at -.094 to take the opener. The Phoenix bounced back with wins in sets two and three before the Saints rebounded in the fourth set. Maryville hit .417 while limiting Cumberland to a -.074 mark. Tied at 1-1 in the fifth, the Saints scored three straight capped by a block from Mortimer and Fischer for a 4-1 lead. Cumberland tied the score at 9-9 before taking an 11-10 edge. Down 12-11, the Fischer had a kill to start a 3-0 and get the Saints to match point at 14-12. The Phoenix tied the set at 14-14 but Fischer's kill gave the Saints another match point. Cumberland scored two straight to earn its own match point. A kill by David Fleischer tied the set at 16-all. However, the Phoenix scored the final two points to take the match.
 
What's Next?
The Saints stay on the road and play at Fort Valley State Monday, March 7.