CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball team (8-7, 3-1 IVA) capped off the weekend with a thrilling five-set non-conference victory over the Belmont Abbey Crusaders (10-5, 3-1 CC) on Saturday night inside Curry Arena. The victory earned the Royals a sweep of the weekend after defeating Limestone on Friday night as Queens improved to 5-1 at home this season.
The Royals did not open the evening well as Belmont Abbey jolted out to a 10-4 lead which forced Royals Head Coach
Jeremy Price to use an early timeout to regroup his squad. The Royals would battle for the remainder of the set, but the Crusaders just never let up taking the set 25-18. Belmont Abbey hit .381 with 11 kills while the Royals attack struggled hitting .038 with 10 attack errors.
Queens utilized the brief intermission between sets to regroup and gather an offensive plan. The Royals unit would respond with an early 6-2 lead in the second set. Ahead 13-7, the Royals would mount another 6-2 push to extend their lead to 17-9 forcing a Belmont Abbey timeout. The Royals would not slow down following the timeout grabbing the set 25-14 to even the score 1-1. Queens looked like an entirely different offense hitting .391 with 12 kills while also forcing Belmont Abbey into a .080 mark with six attack errors. Queens was also successful from the service line striking four aces, including three from
Ananias Hayes.
Similar to the second set, Queens found their groove early by gaining a 10-3 lead. Every Crusaders scoring opportunity was countered with a Royals run which helped the home team grab the set 25-16 and take a convincing 2-1 lead. The Royals attack was lethal in the set hitting .480 with 15 kills while holding the Crusaders to a .050 mark and five kills. The pairing of
Daniel Leitao and
Jack Brinkman would carry the attack and Leitao recorded six kills in the set and Brinkman added five.
Looking to extend the match into a fifth set, Belmont Abbey would make some offensive adjustments and find success in the fourth set. The set began tightly contested as both offenses exchanged points until Belmont Abbey went on a short 4-0 run to grab a 15-12 lead forcing Coach Price into a timeout. The Royals would battle and inch closer as there were eight ties and six lead changes in the set, but the Crusaders would escape forcing a fifth set. The Royals would out-hit Belmont Abbey generating a .308 mark compared to the Crusaders .304 mark. Queens also earned 13 kills to the Crusaders 11 kills.
The deciding fifth set saw four ties as the race to 15 was tightly contested. Leading 12-10, the Royals would close on a 3-1 run and halt the Crusaders attempt at a comeback. Queens hit .235 in the final set with seven kills.
On the night,
Daniel Leitao was incredible posting his fourth double-double this season with a game-high 17 kills and 15 digs.
Jack Brinkman was also involved heavily in the attack again striking 15 kills. On the weekend, the junior averaged 16 kills and a .254 hitting percentage.
Brandon Grabow set up the offense again with a game-high 45 assists while also earning seven digs and three block assists.
Stirling Sims had another great outing for the Royals grabbing 10 kills on 14 attempts, four service aces, and five block assists. As a team, Queens hit .291 with 58 kills and 10 service aces.
Queens will return to the court on Wednesday, March 2 when they travel to Barton College for a 6:00 p.m. match. Following the midweek matinee, the Royals will return to Curry Arena on Saturday to welcome King University at 3:00 p.m. Be sure to follow the Royals men's volleyball program on
Instagram to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates surrounding the team. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on social media @QueensAthletics to follow all of the Royals sports in action.
