GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Turning in a hitting percentage of .392 on the night, Wittenberg Men's Volleyball captured a comfortable win Friday, April 4, over host Calvin in a Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) match at Van Noord Arena.

The Tigers were in command throughout the match, winning by set scores of 25-19, 25-18, and 25-18. Despite a few ties in set one, the Tigers were barely threatened. There were six ties at the beginning of set two. Things were tied at 7-all when the Tigers went on a 9-1 run to go up 16-8 and never looked back. Set three was a little closer with seven early ties. After things were tied at 13-all, Witt went on a 12-5 run to close things out and secure the victory.

The win was the Tigers' fourth in a row and puts Wittenberg at 19-10 on the season with one regular season match remaining on the schedule. Calvin drops to 8-17 on the season and 1-6 in the MCVL. Mount Union currently sits atop the MCVL at 7-0, while Baldwin Wallace and Wittenberg are at 6-1, followed by defending conference tournament champion Trine at 4-2. 

Michael Yurk (Indianapolis, IN / Bishop Chatard) tallied 10 kills in the match to bring his season total to 294, keeping him on pace to beat his program record of 342 set last year. Eli Halverson (Hamilton, OH / Badin) has 228 kills so far this season, also putting him in the top 10 in program history.

For his career, Yurk has now compiled 829 kills in just three seasons with the Tigers. He is now just 12 kills shy of the program record for career kills, currently held by Ashton Sellars, who had 841 between 2015-2019. Halverson is at 733 for his career to rank third in the 10-year history of Wittenberg Men's Volleyball.

Team Leaders  

• Eli Halverson (Hamilton, OH / Badin) and Adam Blair (West Chester, OH / Lakota West) led the team in kills with 11 each. Both had 12.5 points on the night. Halverson added two blocks and six digs while Blair registered three blocks and a dig.
• Michael Yurk (Indianapolis, IN / Bishop Chatard) added 10 kills, 11 points, a solo block, and four digs. 
• Carson Hill (Liberty Township, OH / Lakota East) led the team in assists with 41. He also had six digs and three kills.
• Jake Downs (Cincinnati, OH / Milford) tallied a team-high 16 digs.
• Zach Newton (Morgantown, WV / Franklin Community) landed nine kills on the night and had 11.5 points. He also had a service ace, eight digs, and three blocks.

Team Comparison

• Wittenberg had 48 kills on 97 total attacks, 44 assists, 10 blocks, four service aces, and 47digs.
• Calvin had 31 kills on 100 total attacks, 31 assists, 35 digs, seven blocks, and four service aces.
• The Tigers had a hitting percentage of .392 to .170 for the Knights.

Up Next

Wittenberg will travel to Trine on Saturday, April 5, for a 1 p.m. match.

Written By: Cindy Holbrook