(London, Ontario) – The Fanshawe Men's Volleyball team (2-0) extended their win streak after a 3-1 win over the Redeemer Royals (1-2) on Wednesday evening in their home opener.
Fanshawe's Jayden Crowther (London, ON) opened the match with a huge block and a kill in consecutive plays. Surprising everyone in the gym, setter Jack Vought (Ottawa, ON) tipped the ball to take a 7-6 advantage for the Falcons. Later in the set, the Falcons' luck turned, and faced a seven-point deficit. To keep the Birds alive, Tanner Patterson (Baden, ON) hit a beautiful roll shot to score a point for Fanshawe. The Falcons closed the gap on the visitors and the score stood at 23-23, but the Royals held on and took game one.
Early in the second set, Zack Admans (St. Thomas, ON) converted off a Redeemer free ball with a straight-down spike to get the crowd on their feet. Fanshawe's lead would continue to grow throughout the set with the Falcons' consistent team play and smart decisions. Tom Cullingworth (Ottawa, ON) executed a lethal kill to put the Birds up 21-13. The Falcons took set two 25-16.
The Falcons started 4-0 in the third set. Libero and fifth-year Najeem Javeed made great reads to keep the ball from dropping on Fanshawe's side. To take the Birds' 17th point of the set, Patterson recorded an exquisite cross-court kill. Admans executed back-to-back kills and then pushed the Redeemer blockers off the net with a powerful tip to go up 23-18. The Birds won set three 25-19.
The Falcons took the fourth and final set in the match. Fanshawe's Matt Stechnicki (Guelph, ON) made an amazing play at the net to add a point to the home side. The Birds won the match with a final set score of 25-18. Patterson led Fanshawe with 21 points and a 0.529 kill percentage within the four sets.
The Birds hope to remain undefeated while challenging the Mountaineers (1-1) on the road on Saturday afternoon.
