DALLAS, P.A. – The Medaille College men's volleyball team kicked off the first day of the Cougar Classic with a win over Wilkes University. The Mavs won in four sets 25-21, 23-25, 25-18, 25-21 and move to 1-2 on the season.
The Mavs got out to a strong start led by
Matt Dickerson (Lockport, NY, Starpoint) who had three kills early in the set. Medaille's 8-3 lead did not last long as the Colonels fought back, going up 16-13.
Malachi Jackson (Cheektowaga, NY, Cheektowaga) ended their scoring streak and added four kills to help push the Mavs out front.
George Muriel (Hamburg, NY, Hamburg) and
Brandon Smith (Lancaster, NY, Lancaster) helped close out the first set in favor of Medaille, 25-21.
Jackson and Dickerson continued their hitting success in the second set as both teams battled back and forth. Neither team was able to pull ahead by more than three points. Jackson tied the game up at 23 with a kill, but the Colonels put the set away 25-23.
Fresh off a loss in the second set, the Maverick offense battled with Muriel, Dickerson, and Jackson each recording a kill in the first three points.
Kevin Cashdollar (Clarence, NY, Clarence HS) added three service aces in the middle of the set to help propel the Mavericks to a 17-8 lead. The Colonels tried to mount a comeback, but Medaille held strong to take the third set, 25-18.
The Mavs found themselves playing from behind in the fourth set as the Colonels started out with a 9-5 lead. A kill from
Tyler Hassell (Angola, NY, Lake Shore) got Medaille back on track as they tied the score up at 12 with a service ace by Dickerson, and then took the lead off an attack error. The Mavs would not give up the lead the rest of the set as the Maverick offense was firing on all cylinders. Medaille won the set 25-21.
As a team, the Mavericks put up 52 kills on 99 attempts with only 16 hitting errors for a .364 hitting percentage.
Jackson was outstanding at the net with 19 kills on 29 swings recording just two hitting errors (.586) and six digs. Dickerson followed closely behind with 13 kills on 23 attempts with five errors (.348) and three aces. Cashdollar ran the offense very well with 42 assists and scored three times from the service line. Hassell was efficient with six kills hitting .455 on 11 attempts while Muriel added seven kills. Smith led the team with four total blocks and chipped in six kills.
The Mavs return tomorrow for day two of the Cougar Classic where they will face Misericordia University at 11:00 a.m. and Lancaster Bible College at 1:00 p.m.
