MEN’S VOLLEYBALL PUTS UP BEST PERFORMANCE IN CLOSE LOSS TO SBU

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Despite taking the loss, Avila men's volleyball put up its best performance for the young program in a tight, 3-1 loss to Southwest Baptist on Saturday afternoon.

Avila lost a close first set, 25-19, but came back in the second to pick up the win in the second frame.

The Eagles held a lead for nearly the entirety of the second set. Holding an eight-point lead at 18-10 late, the Bearcats went on a 5-1 run to bring the score to 19-15. From there, Avila took six of the next 10 points and won the set, 25-19.

The second-set victory was the second single-set victory of the season for the young Eagles squad.

A pair of attack errors by SBU gave Avila an early 2-0 lead in the third frame. The Bearcats went on a quick 6-0 run to hold a 7-3 lead and would keep a distance between them and the Eagles for the remainder of the set, going up 2-1.

Avila nearly sent it to a fifth with how well they played in the fourth frame.

The squads traded points back-and-forth for the first part of the set, neither program leading by more than three.

Midway through, Avila held a 15-12 and the two teams would trade runs back-and-forth.

A 5-1 SBU run set the table for a quick 3-0 Avila run before the Bearcats retook the lead with a 4-0 run of their own.

Holding a 21-19 lead, Southwest Baptist and Avila alternated points before the visitors were on the winning side, ending the match with a kill, to take the fourth and final set, 25-23.

Fourteen assists from Alan Uncal-Ramirez and nine digs from Darren Zheng helped propel Avila's performance, while a pair of service aces each from Santiago Gonzalez and Rylan Murphy assisted the effort. Chase Kreitzer had another strong performance, notching nine kills, joined closely behind with seven from Sebastian Williams. 

The Eagles have just one game this upcoming week, traveling to Kansas Wesleyan on Tuesday for a 6 PM gametime.

 (photo credit: Ali Nassir)