Men's Volleyball Wins Second MCVL Championship, Rothstein Becomes All-Time Digs Leader

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University men's volleyball team won its second MCVL Tournament Championship on Saturday after knocking off Mount Union in four sets. Zach Rothstein became the Division III all-time digs leader in the win and Ryan Lively set the single-season record at Fontbonne in kills.

Final: Fontbonne 3, Mount Union 1

(23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-22)

Set Breakdown:

Set 1: After the Griffins tied the game 10-10 on Jacob Hartmann's kill, the Purple Raiders went on a 7-0 run. Fontbonne got it going after the timeout and eventually tied it, 21-21, on Ryan Lively's kill.

The two teams went back-and-forth but it was kills from Andrew Cross and Justin Sibbel giving Mount Union the 25-23 win.

Set 2: Neither team was giving way in the second set but the Griffins gained a little 19-17 breathing room on Braden Woolsey's solo block. They met-up once more, 22-22, but a quick 2-0 run from Fontbonne and then a kill from Lively gave Fontbonne the 25-23 victory.

Set 3: In the third, the Griffins opened with a 12-8 lead on Ryan Lively's kill. Mount Union kept hanging around narrowing the deficit down to 20-19 on Cameron Ternent's kill but the Griffins outscored Mount Union 5-1 the rest of the way capped off by kills from Woolsey and Nate Paasch for the 25-20 win.

Set 4: In the fourth, the Griffins led 17-14 on Cameron Graves' kill. After Mount Union evened it up 18-18, the Griffins were able to expand the gap leading 23-20 on a big block assist from Lively and Jacob Hartmann.

Mount Union tried to force a fifth cutting it down to a 23-22 game but Hartmann finished the Purple Raiders off with back-to-back kills for the 25-22 set and match win.

Head-to-Head

• The Griffins finished with 57 kills and a .255 hitting percentage.
• Defensively, the Griffins ended with five solo blocks and 10 block assists.
• Mount Union rounded out with 49 kills and a .158 hitting percentage.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Zach Rothstein led the group defensively with 22 digs and now can etch his name atop the NCAA Division III Record Book with 1,319 career digs.
• Ryan Lively also made history with his 20-kill performance he's now the single-season leader at Fontbonne in kills with 307 kills.
• Cameron Graves recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs.
• Jacob Hartmann had a strong game with a career-high nine kills and .471 hitting percentage.
• Grant Garza and Woolsey each had seven kills. Woolsey added two solo blocks and three block assists.
• Kyler van Rossum-O'Connell kept the offense flowing with his 56 assists.

At the conclusion of the game, both van Rossum-O'Connell and Rothstein were named to the All-Tournament Team as was the Most Valuable Player, Ryan Lively.

Up Next

The Griffins will now wait to see who they'll play in the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship in Salem, Va. The selection show will be at 9 a.m., on Monday morning.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates on the men's volleyball team.

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