BLUEFIELD, Va. -- The Rams pulled even at 1-1 after a 25-20 victory in set two, but the visiting Charleston University Golden Eagles claimed the next two to spoil the Bluefield College men's volleyball team's home finale at the Dome Gymnasium on Friday evening. Charleston took the match 25-19, 20-25, 25-17, 25-20.
Bluefield's loss moves its record to 3-18, while UC goes to 4-21 thanks to its win in the matchup of first-year programs.
David Gianesin's 11 kills paced the Rams' attack.
Daniel Williams added seven more kills while
Isaiah Williams dished out 24 assists.
On defense,
Connor Holland and
Daniel Williams were in on seven block assists apiece while Gianesin had five block assists and two solo blocks. The Rams racked up 16 total blocks as a team. Gianesin completed the all-around night with eight digs, tying
Patrick Hilton for the team high.
While Bluefield opened the first with a 7-3 lead, the Golden Eagles fought back to tie it 10-all then scored the next five to force a timeout from the Rams. Bluefield came back with a pair of quick points, but the visitors closed out the set with the 25-19 victory.Â
The Rams registered their best hitting percentage (.318) of the night in set two en route to the 25-20 victory, connecting on 12 kills to just five errors on 22 attempts. Conversely, UC hit at its worst clip of the evening at -.118, registering five kills and seven errors on 17 attempts.
Matt Epperson helped the Rams race out to a 15-7 lead early on, as he tallied three of his four aces of the evening in the early Ram run. Charleston fought back to within 19-14, but the Rams got back-to-back kills from
Daniel Williams and Epperson out of a timeout. The gap was closed to 23-20 late in the set, but a kill from Gianesin and a Holland block pulled the match even.
Set three was close early on once again, but a 6-0 run from UC gave the Golden Eagles all the space they needed to take the 25-17 victory.
The visitors came out hot in the fourth looking to close the match and gained an early 10-3 advantage. The Rams were able to chip away to make it 14-9, but the deficit once again went to seven at 20-13 and UC took the final 25-20.
The Rams play their final two matches of the season on Saturday, competing in a tri-match at Coker College, which also involves Warner University.