St. Louis – Despite a program-record 26 kills from Joe Nicometo, the Maryville men's volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller to Judson Saturday evening. The Eagles won the first two sets 25-17, 25-21 before the Saints rallied with 25-16, 25-15 wins to force a decisive fifth set. In a back-and-forth final set, the Eagles edged ahead for an 18-16 win. Nicometo completed a double-double as he added 13 digs. Jayden Rookhuyzen finished with nine kills to aid the offensive attack. Josh Zhuchenko paced the defense with 14 digs, while David Fleischer had eight blocks.
 
Judson recap                                
Maryville was down 2-0 but set three saw the Saints hit .333 as their won their first set of the match. Trailing 3-2, Maryville reeled off five straight points Nicometo stated the run with a kill, and his ace gave the Saints a 7-3 margin. Judson closed to 12-9 before tacked on a 4-0 run capped by a Rookhuyzen kill for a 16-9 lead. Maryville was up by four but tallied four of the next five points, and a kill by Cole Torrence stretched the lead to 20-13. Maryville led by as many as eight points to get one set back.
 
The Saints grabbed a quick 8-3 lead and held on to it. Nicometo had two kills in a 5-1 span. Maryville eventually pushed to a 16-9 advantage. Judson closed the gap to five on two occasions but the Saints reeled off a 6-1 burst to close the set and force a decisive fifth set.
 
Neither team led by more than one point in the fifth set, and the Saints went ahead 9-8 on a Judson error. However, the Eagles scored five straight to claim a 13-9 edge. Drew Rogers had a kill and an error Judson make it 13-11. The visitors got to match point but Nicometo had a kill, and Rookhuyzen served an ace. Nicometo tied the set at 14-14 and then used another kill for their own match point. Judson tied the score before a Jacob Fischer kill gave the Saints another match point at 16-15. However, the Eagles scored three straight to take the match.
 
Statistical Leaders
Kills: Joe Nicometo - 26
Hitting Percentage: Joe Nicometo - .382
Assists: Cameron Chambers - 43
Service Aces: David Fleischer and Joe Nicometo - 3
Digs: Josh Zhuchenko - 14
Blocks: David Fleischer - 8
 
Records
Maryville: 10-15
Judson: 19-6
 
What's Next?
The Saints take a short break and are not in action again until the regular season finale Tuesday, April 4, when Missouri S&T visits Moloney Arena for a 7 p.m. match.