Men's Volleyball Sweeps Opening Day

ERIE, Pa. – The CUW men's volleyball team opened the 2023 campaign in victorious fashion on Saturday. The Falcons picked up a 3-2 victory over Penn State-Behrend and closed the trip with a 3-0 victory over St. Vincent.

It's always great to get the season off to a great start with two wins," said head coach Curtis Madson. "It was amazing to see how the team handled some adversity and struggles in the first match. The whole team showed a lot of resilience battling back and grinding out that win against a good team. Lucas Beres really stepped up his play and not only gave us a boost at the net but he gave us some much-needed stability from the service line. We know what we need to address and look forward to getting back in the gym and getting work in before we open up play at home next weekend."

The Blue and White came out on top of a 15-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-16, 17-15 battle against PSUB.

The Lions led for the majority of the first set and used a 9-4 run to get some separation and eventually take the set 25-15.

The Falcons flipped the script in the second set. The serve of sophomore Logan Kebisek (Brookfield, Wis.) helped give the Falcons an early 5-0 lead.

PSUB was able to take a 2-1 lead with a 25-18 victory in set three.

CUW showed no fear with its back to the wall and responded back with a strong showing in the fourth set. The Blue and White broke the set open with a 7-1 run to take a 14-8 lead. Freshman Ben Kayser (Milwaukee, Wis.) went off for seven kills in the set.

The Lions jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the decisive fifth set. The Falcons continued to fight and tied the set at eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. After a PSUB service error, Ben Kayser ended the match with a service ace at 17-15. Freshman Tate Miller (Anthem, Ariz.) had four kills and five attacks in the fifth set.

Ben Kayser led the match with 19 kills on Saturday

Logan Kebisek fed the CUW attack with 39 assists and also added 10 digs.

Sophomore Kellen Gonzalez (Waukesha, Wis.) led the birds with 15 digs.

The Falcons then brought out the brooms against the Bearcats of Saint Vincent with a 26-24, 25-18, 25-14 victory.

The two teams fought back and forth in the first set. The Bearcats received some breathing room with a 14-11 lead and pushed the lead to 24-19. Behind the serve of sophomore Lucas Beres (Germantown, Wis.) the Falcons continued to fight off set points.

A service ace from Beres gave the Falcons their first set points of the match and a block from junior Spencer Herman (Kimberly, Wis.) and senior Andy Ellingham (Burlington, Wis.) gave CUW the set at 26-24.

With the wind to their back, the Falcons rode that momentum in the second set and broke free tied at 14, where CUW took the next three points and never looked back. A kill from Ben Kayser gave the Falcons the set at 25-18.

The Bearcats hung tough with Concordia to start the third set, but a 9-0 run with the serve of Spencer Herman gave CUW a 24-13 lead and he then landed a kill to take the set at 25-14.

Ben Kayser and Tate Miller led the match with 11 kills, one head of Spencer Herman. Herman also finished with a match-high eight digs.

Logan Kebisek dished out 39 assists in the victory. That ties the program record for a three-set match.

Lucas Beres had four of the 10 CUW service aces.

The Falcons return to the nest on Friday for the CUW Invite.