WATERTOWN, Wis. – Marian University men’s volleyball (5-6, 0-2 NACC) fell to Maranatha Baptist in five sets before defeating Greenville in four sets in a pair of non-conference matches.

The Sabre defense got out to a slow start as Maranatha Baptist would hit .483 in the opening set to defeat Marian 25-20.  The Sabres bounced back with a 27-25 win in the second set after a kill from senior Jacob DeGroot and a service ace from sophomore Zach Zelenik.  Marian was then able to win the third set 25-22 closing out the set with four of the final five points.

The Sabercats dominated the fourth set hitting .619 with 13 kills and no errors to force a fifth set.  Neither team led by more than two points in the winner-take-all set that needed more than the minimum of 15 points.  Marian would hold off the first pair of match-point opportunities for MBU but the Sabercats would convert the third to take the set 17-15.

Sophomore Liam Skinner recorded a match-high 25 kills off of a .476 hitting percentage to go with six total blocks.  Junior Jacob Jurney added 20 kills, while sophomore Carzell Combs led the back row with a match-high 17 digs.

Marian bounced back quickly to defeat Greenville 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, and 25-16 in their second match of the day.  The Sabres jumped out to a 14-6 lead to open the first set and cruised to the victory.  The second set saw a similarly fast start from Marian scoring seven of the first nine points but an 8-3 run to close out the set from Greenville evened the sets.

The third set opened as a 19-19 stalemate before Marian used three kills and an ace to finish the set on a 6-1 run.  Marian was able to finish the job in the fourth set this time as Marian scored the final six points of the set to earn the victory.

Jurney led the way with a double-double posting a team-high 14 kills to go with 11 digs.  Skinner added 12 kills and DeGroot another 11, while Combs finished with 14 digs to lead the back row.

Marian travels to Cardinal Stritch Wednesday, Feb. 26 for a 7 p.m. first serve.

–FightBlueFight—