GREENVILLE, Ill. - Marian University men's volleyball (3-4, 2-1 MCVL) closed out their first weekend of MCVL action with a sweep over Greenville.

Marian jumped out early on the Panthers using a 7-2 run to take their first lead of the match in the opener of a doubleheader.  This allowed the Sabres to take a four-point lead, which they rode to the finish in a 25-22 set win.

Both offenses performed well to open the doubleheader with Marian hitting .367 off of 16 kills and five errors, while Greenville opened with a .300 hitting percentage off 15 kills and six errors.

The second set was a tight affair from wire-to-wire with neither team being able to build a lead larger than four points.  The Sabres led late off a kill from sophomore Jon Smallpage that gave MU a 24-23 set-point advantage, but Marian was unable to convert.  Greenville responded scoring five of the final seven points of the match to even the sets at 1-1.

The Sabre offense bounced back in the third set with a .350 hitting percentage and 20 kills.  Despite the strong offensive performance, Marian trailed late in the set 22-21.  Marian then did a good job of finishing out the set strong and used a pair of kills from junior Aaron Wendels to take a 2-1 set lead.

Once again in the fourth, Marian used a late rally after falling behind 23-21 scoring six of the final eight points in the match for their first MCVL win of the season.

Wendels finished the opener with a team-high 21 kills, while Smallpage chipped in 18 kills and had eight total blocks at the net.  Sophomore Jon Sattersten provided offensive depth in the middle with nine kills and a .400 hitting percentage, while sophomore Cullen Liberski had a match-high 17 digs.

Marian opened the second match of the day fast with an 8-3 run to take the early lead.  Similarly to the first match, the Sabres would maintain this lead all the way to the finish with a set score of 25-23.  Similarly, Marian scored seven of the first eight points to open set two and led late 24-17.  Greenville wouldn't go away, however, as the Panthers turned away four set-point opportunities with Smallpage eventually clinching the set with a kill.

The Panthers used their momentum from the end of the set, however, as they would take set number three and force a fourth.  The Sabres bounced back following the loss with their best offensive performance between both matches hitting .400 off of 16 kills and four errors.  Greenville hung tight in the set but Marian closed out the match with a 6-1 run.

Smallpage led the way in match number two with a match-high 22 kills and three service aces.  Wendels led the way in the back row with a match-high 13 digs.

Marian is next in action when the Sabres make their first appearance at Sadoff Gym for the season Friday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.

--FightBlueFight--