Marian University men’s volleyball (3-2, 0-1 NACC) rallied late to defeat Adrian in five sets with set scores of 25-17, 21-25, 22-25, 25-23, and 15-11.

The Sabres jumped out to a fast start going on a 14-4 run to open the match forcing an Adrian timeout.  This fast start allowed Marian to easily cruise to a 25-17 win behind a .391 attack percentage from the team.

The second set went down to the wire with Marian trailing by only one at 22-21 before Adrian used three straight kills to even the sets at 1-1.  The third set was similar as Marian led 21-19 late but the Bulldogs once again had a strong finish scoring five of the final six points to take a 2-1 lead.

The two squads continued to go back-and-forth with the two squads holding an 18-18 stalemate to open the fourth set.  Marian then used a much needed 5-2 run to go ahead 23-20.  After Adrian pulled to within one, the Sabres were able to close out the set and force a fifth.

Marian used their momentum from the end of the fourth to jump ahead 10-5 to open the fifth set.  Adrian would pull to within three on a pair of occasions but a kill from sophomore Liam Skinner clinched the come from behind win.  The Sabres finished out the win with 12 kills in the fifth set off of a .333 hitting percentage.

The Sabre offense was spread out with sophomore Jacob Jurney recording a team-best 15 kills and senior Jacob DeGroot adding 14.  Sophomore Zach Zelenik had a team-high 16 digs to go with 45 assists for a double-double.  Marian once again had a strong match at the net with 13 total blocks led by Skinner who had three solo blocks and five assisted blocks.

Marian travels to North Central (Ill.) and Aurora Saturday, Feb. 8 at 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively, in the first road matches of the season for the Sabres.

–FightBlueFight—