BEREA, Ohio - The Houghton men's volleyball team traveled to Berea, Ohio to face the Grove City College Wolverines and No. 16 Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets. The Highlanders lost both matches 3-0.
 
GAME VITALS
Game #1:
Score: Houghton – 0 | Grove City – 3
Records: Houghton: 0-9, 0-0 AMCC | Grove City: 6-8, 1-0 PAC
Scores: 7-25, 9-25, 22-25
Venue: Ursprung Gymnasium| Attendance: 35
 
Recap: From the beginning of the match, the Wolverines established a very strong offense. For the Highlanders, unforced errors proved to be the difference and Gove City took advantage and quickly won the first set 25-7. Despite Houghton starting stronger in the second set, the combination of Grove City's offense and Houghton's errors led to a set two win, with a score of 25-9.
 
After a disappointing first and second set, the Highlanders were determined to fight back into the match by keeping their poise in set three. Unlike the first two sets, Houghton limited their errors early on and put some pressure on the Wolverines. In a back-and-forth battle, it was the untimely service errors at the conclusion of the third set that gave Grove City the 25-22 victory.
 
Game #2:
Score: Houghton – 0 | Baldwin Wallace – 3
Records: Houghton: 0-10, 0-0 AMCC | Baldwin Wallace: 9-6, 0-0 MCVL
Scores: 14-25, 15-25, 19-25
Venue: Ursprung Gymnasium| Attendance: 45
 
Recap: Putting aside a disappointing match against Grove City, Houghton turned their attention to No. 16 Baldwin Wallace. In the first set, Houghton played competitively early on, but attacking errors allowed the Yellow Jackets to gain momentum to take set one 25-14.Baldwin Wallace continued their strong play in the second set and jumped out to an early lead. The Highlanders could not find any rhythm and that proved to be the difference in set two with the Yellow Jackets winning the second set 25-15.
 
Defensively, the Highlanders were led by Xavier Ramos who tallied 20 digs for the match and was key component in holding Baldwin Wallace to a hitting percentage of only .148. But their defensive efforts were not enough and they lost the third set 25-19, resulting in a 3-0 match loss.  
 
NOTABLE STATS
>> Xavier Ramos tallied 27 digs on the day
 
>>Elijah Sproull added six kill and six digs against Baldwin Wallace
 
COACH'S CORNER
 
"Today we were tested in a lot of different ways. We were over-matched, but the guys fought hard and made some nice plays throughout both matches. "
 
UP NEXT
 
After today's tri-match, Houghton will travel to face a familiar opponent, the Hilbert Hawks on Tuesday, February 18^th at 7:00pm.