FOND DU LAC, Wis. - Marian men's volleyball (9-13, 5-7 MCVL) was forced to play five sets for only the second time this season but fell to Benedictine with set finals of 25-21, 24-26, 25-20, 16-25, and 15-10.

The Eagles opened with a small 13-12 lead before using a 5-1 run to build a comfortable 18-13 lead.  Benedictine hit .500 during the opening set win with 25 kills to only two errors.

Aaron Wendels started his night with six kills in the set and a team-high three digs, while Jon Smallpage chipped in four kills.

Marian managed to bounce back to open the second set with a 13-9 lead before Benedictine fought back to a 14-14 draw with a 5-1 run.  From there the set was back-and-forth with neither team managing a lead larger than two points.  The Eagles were primed for a 2-0 set lead with a 23-22 advantage before MU battled back to score three of the final four points capped off by an assisted block from Jon Sattersten and Wendels.

Six different Sabres recorded a dig in the set, while Wendels added another six kills.

Benedictine opened the third set witha  15-12 lead, but similarly to the first set the Eagles used a 5-2 run to build a comfortable lead and eventually cruise to the set win.  The Marian offense was balanced with five different MU players earning kills despite the loss forcing a must-win situation in the fourth set.

The fourth set proved to be the strongest set for the Sabre offense as they hit .429 with 13 kills and only one error as they continually added on to their advantage eventually leading to the 25-16 blowout.  Cullen Liberski was strong in the do-or-die set with five digs in the back row.

Marian took the first advantage of the winner take-all fifth set at 5-3 and had all the momentum before a Benedictine timeout led the Eagles to a 7-3 run and a 10-8 causing a Marian timeout.  The Sabres scored the first point following the timeout but Benedictine was able to close out the set scoring the final four points of the set.

Wendels finished the night with a season-high 26 kills to go with a .413 hitting percentage and four service aces, while Joey Dittman also set a season-high with 52 assists.  In the back row, Liberski had a team-high 13 digs to lead the Sabres.

Marian closes out the regular season tomorrow, Saturday, April 2, hosting No. 14 Dominican at 3 p.m. in Sadoff Gym.

--FightBlueFight--