February 10, 2009 | Box Score
Lamoni, IA-Still in the early stages of their 2009 season the Jackets faced their biggest test yet on Tuesday in Lamoni. Facing the #6 ranked rival Park Pirates, the Jackets were going to have the opportunity to put their 5-1 record on the line and gauge themselves against the defending National Champs. It would take five games to settle this match before the Jackets upset bid came up just short. Graceland lost in five by scores of 30-28, 28-30, 23-20, 30-22 & 15-17. Full box score is linked above.
"I am really proud of our guys, we keep getting better and better with every match," stated McDole following the match. "We played very consistent volleyball. I think the difference was missed serves. In the 5th set we missed 2 more serves than our opponent and lost by 2 points. Who knows if that is the reason why, but the rest of our game was pretty consistent. Here is something cool though, our leading kill swing with 14 kills was a freshman, Andres Quinones from Puerto Rico! Wow what a great performance to see coming from a freshman! Kevin Allison contributed with 13 kills, Steve Hennings with 13 and the team leading hitting% of 500%, Joe Klein with 12 and Dan Parish with 8 kills. Our passing was the secret to our successful offense. Because we were in system our sideout game was on, 67% of the time we were successful in siding out. We blocked extremely well too averaging 2.6 blocks per game. Our leading blockers were Steve Hennings with 7 blocks and Kevin Allison with 5. Pono Yin led our defense with 10 digs," finished McDole.
The Jackets now stand at 5-2 overall and will face Lindenwood University in Lamoni this Saturday at 5pm. Stay tuned to the Jacket athletics website for continuing coverage on the men's volleyball team and all of Jacket athletics.
For More Information on Graceland University Athletics Contact:
Matt Shelton, Sports Information Director
(641) 784-5318
mshelton@graceland.edu
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