No. 6 Men’s Volleyball Team Settles for Split

The No. 6 Wells College men's volleyball team split a pair of matches on Friday, Feb. 14. The Express opened with a 3-0 sweep over visiting Penn State-Altoona and then dropped a 3-2 match to NCAA D-II Daemen College.

In the latter match, the Express dropped the first set by a 25-22 score, but appeared to gain momentum after taking the next two sets at 25-16 and 25-22. The Wildcats forced a fifth-and-deciding set by taking the fourth at 25-18. The fifth set favored Wells almost during its duration, but a late rally by Daemen allowed them to take the match with a 16-14 fifth-set score. Both teams finished the night scoring 104 points.

Against the Wildcats, Robert Patzer had a team-high 20 kills, while Kevin Batmunkh led the defensive charge with 18 digs.

Wells defeated the Nittany Lions by double-digits in two of the three sets on the night. The Express began with a 25-15 win and followed that with a second-set 25-14 victory. Penn State played its best in the third set with a 25-23 defeat.

Caden O'Loughlin led the Express with team highs in both kills and digs with nine each. Justin Williams recorded a team-high pair of blocks against Penn State and finished the night with a combined seven after also recording a team-high five blocks against Daemen.

In the team's only home back-to-back playing dates of the season, the Express will take on SUNY Potsdam (11 a.m.) and Keuka College (3 p.m.) on Saturday, Feb. 15.