AURORA, N.Y. – The Medaille College men's volleyball team fell just short in their road match against Wells College losing 3-0. The Mavericks lost in three close sets 21-25, 29-31, 23-25.
The Express grabbed the first points of the game from Maverick errors before the Mavs went on a 6-1 scoring streak. Setter
Kevin Cashdollar (Clarence, NY, Clarence HS) had no issues running the offense and connected with multiple Maverick hitters early in the set. The Express bounced back with a six-point scoring streak that was ended by a kill from
Malachi Jackson (Cheektowaga, NY, Cheektowaga). The Mavs held their own off of the arm of
Matt Dickerson (Lockport, NY, Starpoint) as the Mavs trailed 18-21.
Brandon Smith (Lancaster, NY, Lancaster) added back-to-back aces to get the Mavs within one, but the Express rattled off four of the next five points to win the set, 25-21.
Dickerson continued to be a force for the Mavs scoring two kills in a row to open the second set. Dickerson added three more kills in a Medaille scoring streak to take a 14-7 lead. The Express charged back and closed the gap quickly.
George Muriel (Hamburg, NY, Hamburg) added back-to-back kills late in the set along with Dickerson, Jackson, and Muriel. The Mavs were ahead 24-22 but the Express refused to back off. The lead changed eight times going into extra points. Dickerson added a kill to go up 29-28, but the Mavs lost the next three points as Wells took the second set, 31-29.
The third set was the closest set the Mavs played all night. Medaille took the early lead, but it did not last long. Dickerson continued his strong play at the net as both teams traded points. Multiple attack errors from the Express helped the Mavs go up 12-9. Again, the Express strung together a few scoring runs to keep Medaille from taking over. Smith grabbed another ace as Dickerson and Jackson handled the scoring at the net. The Mavs were tied with the Express at 21, but service errors at the net hurt Medaille. The Mavs lost the set, 23-25.
Dickerson was outstanding in the match with a team-high 18 kills on 37 swings with four errors (.378). Jackson added nine kills and led defensively with 12 digs while Cashdollar put up 32 assists and eight digs.
Joshua Shiflet Jr. (Mechanicsville, VA, Lee-Davis) also added eight digs and Smith finished with three aces.
The Mavs will look to bounce back tomorrow where they will face Russell Sage College at 12:00 p.m. and Elmira College at 2:00 p.m.
