Pride split pair of matches for second straight day with win over Ottawa and loss to St. Xavier

DUBUQUE, Iowa - With an opportunity to bring their overall record over the .500 mark this season, the Clarke University men's volleyball team earned a 3-0 win over Ottawa University and dropped their second match of the night 3-0 to St. Xavier University.

In their win over the Braves, CU earned their set wins by scores of 28-26, 25-11, 25-22 to earn the sweep and in their loss to the Cougars, SXU took the sets by scores of 25-18, 25-23, 25-22.

In their win, the Pride were led on the attack by Michael Jenkins who finished with a team-high 12 kills on 28 attacks to finish with a .143 hitting percentage. In the loss, Jenkins finished with five kills on 22 attempts to finish the day 17 kills.

Both Tye Ojala and Montez Thompson added nine kills in the win over Ottawa as Thompson finished with seven and Ojala had six in their second match of the day. Both middles for Clarke had efficient days as Stephen Lewandowski combined to go 9-for-16 with only one error for a .500 hitting percentage on the day as Zachary Barr went 5-for-11 with an error for a .455 hitting percentage on the day.

Setter Erik Schmit had a strong night with 34 assists, six digs, and two aces in the win as he finished the loss with a near double-double at 20 assists and nine digs.

In both matches an opposing player led the match in kills as Ottawa's Brennan Hager finished with 14 kills in Clarke's first match of the day and St. Xavier's Shane Ooms had 17 kills in the finale.

The Pride will play next on the road in a rematch of Friday's matchup against Mount Mercy, this time in a Heart of America Athletic Conference match in Cedar Rapids, Iowa next Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. CT first serve.