WHITING, Ind. - The Olivet Nazarene University men's volleyball team fell in four sets on the road Thursday night, dropping a 3-1 decision to Calumet College of St. Joseph inside the Rittenmeyer Center. 

Brody McAfee paced the Tigers with 16 kills on a .407 clip, while Jaiton Kamaunu posted 11. Cade Ooms finished with seven kills and two service aces. The Tigers hit .262 as a unit and out-blocked Calumet 8-2 on the night. 

In the opening set, ONU took an early lead after Cade Ooms delivered a couple of aces to give the Tigers an 8-6 advantage. However, Calumet responded with a mid-set push, capitalizing on service errors and attack miscues from ONU. McAfee finished the set with five kills, but the Tigers couldn't recover late, dropping the frame 25-19.

Set two saw ONU storm back from an 18-13 deficit with a 5-1 scoring run that featured a pair of kills from Kamaunu and Kahaku Marquez. The Tigers continued to fight and got within two, 22-24, after a block from McAfee and Jackson Harvey, but ultimately fell short, 25-22.

ONU controlled set three from start to finish, hitting .417 as a team. A key 6-1 stretch included a service ace from Max Rodenmeyer and consecutive attack errors forced by ONU's pressure at the net. Marquez added kills during the run, and Ooms closed the door with a kill to give the Tigers a 25-17 win. 

In the fourth set, ONU edged ahead 16-15 after a McAfee kill, but the Tigers couldn't sustain the momentum as Calumet responded with a 10-7 stretch to close out the match. The Crimson Wave used back-to-back service aces to take control at 21-17, but ONU battled back behind McAfee's offense and a block from Tomas Gonzalez to make it 24-22. Rodenmeyer followed with a service ace to pull the Tigers within one, 24-23. However, a service error on the next play ended the comeback bid, and Calumet claimed the set 25-23.

Looking Ahead

The Tigers return home to host St. Ambrose University on Apr. 8th, at 7 p.m. CST inside McHie Arena.

—ONU—

*Contact Anyssa Hampton, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, ahampton@olivet.edu