NORTH ANDOVER, MA – The Merrimack College men's volleyball team was unable to capture a home victory in a four set defeat to FDU at home.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 1, FDU 3
Records: Merrimack (7-14, 2-7), FDU (10-12, 4-5)
How It Happened
Merrimack would start off the match with a
Kai Vogel thunderous kill to get the gym pumped up. It would then be five straight FDU points to take advantage. The Warriors would go on a 11-5 run to regain the lead at 12-10. From that point forward it would be the two teams trading points with MC gaining a slight lead at 19-15. Merrimack would score two straight to make it a six point lead at 21-15 and force a Knights timeout. However, FDU would go on a furious run to ultimately close out the first set 27-25. In the second set the Warriors wanted to avoid going down 2-0 and even the match at one. FDU would once again jump out to a mini lead 4-1 to start it. Merrimack would get right back into it and grab the lead 7-6. The two teams would go back and forth up until it was 12-11 MC. A 5-0 run from FDU would then put them ahead and they wouldn't look back as they won set number two narrowly 25-23.
In the third set it was once again as close as could be as for the entirety of the set it was a one or two point battle. No one seemed to gain the clear advantage in this set. It was going both ways but the home crowd certainly played a factor as they pushed the Warriors to a late mini comeback and stole the third set 26-24 off of a
Blake Taschner ace. The momentum was fully on the side of the home squad heading into the fourth set of this match. The Knights put a squash to the momentum as they scored the first three points of the set. In true Warriors fashion they would be right back into it in the blink of an eye. The set would stay close like the rest of the match had been. Merrimack started to fall out of it late with a surge from FDU as they went behind by four points forcing the blue and gold to use a timeout at 21-17. Out of the timeout FDU scored back to back points to go up 23-17. From there they were able to win the set 25-18 and end the match in four sets.
Notes and Numbers
Up Next
Merrimack has a quick turnaround as they play their final home match of the year against LIU Saturday at 4:00 PM.
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