Men's Volleyball Falls to Midway in Straight Sets to Open the 2022 Season

MIDWAY, Ky. – The Roosevelt University men's volleyball team opened the 2022 season with a straight set loss on the road to Midway University on Friday, January 21 at Marshall Gymnasium.

The first set was a competitive affair with the two teams trading the lead multiple times before they were evened up at 18-18.  At this point, Midway scored the next five points to take a 23-18 advantage, but the Lakers pulled to within 23-21 on a kill by Kayan Abdou and a service ace from Jack Rothwell.  However, the Eagles scored next to force set point with Tony Galeana then tallying a kill to keep the Lakers alive, but Midway scored again to take the opening set 25-22.

In the second set, Roosevelt raced out to a 7-3 lead, but the Eagles quickly came back and took over the stanza, outscoring the Lakers 22-5 to win convincingly 25-12 to take a 2-0 match lead.

The third set was reminiscent of the first set early on, but Midway broke a 9-9 tie with five consecutive points to build a 14-9 margin.  The Lakers battled back to pull within 21-19 and then trailed by a single point at 23-22 after a Tony Galeana ace, but the Eagles closed out the set and the match with two straight points to win the non-conference contest in straight sets.

MATCH DETAILS

Score:   Roosevelt            22           12           22
                Midway                25           25           25

Records: Roosevelt 0-1 | Midway 1-0

Location: Marshall Gymnasium | Midway, Ky.

KEY STATS

• Shawn McCarthy led the team with seven kills to go with six digs & four block assists
• Christopher Fermaintt had 15 digs defensively
• Tony Galeana dished out 15 assists

NEWS & NOTES

• This was the first meeting between the Lakers and the Eagles
• The match marked the collegiate head coaching debut of Kelly Magliano for the Lakers

NEXT UP

The Lakers have a quick turnaround on their season opening road trip, taking on Georgetown College on Saturday, January 22.  Match time is set for 11am at Davis-Reid Alumni Gym and fans can watch live here.