Pride battle in home opener but No. 1 Grand View powers back to take match 3-1

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Facing one of their toughest opponents of the year in their first home match of the season, the Clarke University men's volleyball team got out to a strong start but eventually fell to No. 1 Grand View University by a final of 3-1.

The Pride took the first set of the match and nearly won the second set but the Vikings were able to even the match in the second and pull away in the third and fourth to win by set scores of 21-25, 25-23, 25-15, and 25-19. 

In the opening set, Grand View jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Pride came storming back to eventually take a 13-12 lead as they would grow that lead and never relinquish it for the remainder of the set to go up at many as 19-15 before holding that advantage to win by four points at that 25-21 opening set win.

The second set was tight throughout with neither team leading by more than two points at any time during the set before the Vikings eventually took a 24-21 lead that was answered by CU making it a one-point set until Grand View took set point on a service error.

Individually, three members of the Vikings had double digit kills led by Bayron Valdez, who ent 12-for-28 with six errors to finish at a .214 hitting percentage as he was supported by Daniel Galili and Daniel Wong who each had 11 kills to finish the match.

For the Pride, Montez Thompson was the team leader in kills with 10 but also had 10 errors to finish at an even .000 hitting percentage as Michael Jenkins finished with nine kills on 25 attempts. Setter Erik Schmidt finished with a double-double on the night with 28 assists and 13 digs to lead Clarke in both categories.

The block played a big role for CU in the match as they finished with 14 total blocks compared to just nine for Grand View as Stephen Lewandowski led the way up front being in on nine of the blocks with eight block assists and a solo block to go along with his six kills on the night.

CU men's volleyball will continue at home for four matches on Friday and Saturday with two each day as they host Mount Mercy, Morningside, Ottawa, and St. Xavier for a big weekend of volleyball at the Kehl Center.