MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball team (13-11, 4-2 IVA) sparked an incredible comeback to rally past the Mount Olive Trojans (13-5, 10-2 CC) by a final score of 3-2 on Tuesday afternoon. Despite dropping the first two sets and falling behind, Queens remained resilient and forced their seventh five-set match this season, and second in a row. With the victory, the Royals split the regular season home-and-home series with the Trojans and extend their winning streak to a season-best four matches.
The Royals struggled to open the evening on the offensive end. In the first set, Queens hit even with nine attack errors and four service errors while the Trojans countered with a .308 mark and 11 kills. The Royals were able to flip the page quickly as they dominated the second set. In the frame, Queens hit a game-best .444 with 15 kills and just three attack errors. Mount Olive would put together another explosive set on a .343 hitting percentage and 17 kills.
Trailing 2-0, Head Coach
Jeremy Price and his squad remained poised and ready to make a comeback. The final three sets saw the Royals minimize their errors while capitalizing on the Mount Olive mistakes. In the third set, Queens fell behind early 6-1, but continued to chip away with small rallies. Trailing 18-15, Queens' patience would pay off as they went on a 6-1 run to grab a late 20-19 lead. The Royals would carry that momentum through the final point of the set as
Stirling Sims earned a kill before
JP Payne secured the set with back-to-back kills.
The fourth set was one of the most complete frames from the visiting Royals on the evening. Trailing 12-10, the Royals went on an unbelievable 10-0 run to grab a commanding 20-12 lead. The Trojans would only answer with a pair of points the rest of the way as Queens closed out the fourth in convincing fashion to tie the game 2-2. In the set, Queens hit .304 with 10 kills while the Trojans hit even with nine attack errors.
In their second straight five set match, the Royals were looking to continue their dominance from the final two sets. Both teams struggled on the attack and at the service line in the deciding set as their were 11 combined attack errors and five service errors. All tied 5-5, Queens put together a 5-0 run breaking open the scoring which proved to be the difference as the Royals took the set 15-9.
On the attack,
Daniel Leitao led the Royals with 14 kills while also adding eight digs.
Stirling Sims had another great night with 13 kills and a .476 hitting percentage. Sims also added six block assists and three digs on defense for Queens. Senior
JP Payne had another efficient night on the attack with eight kills on 12 attempts. Fellow senior
Brandon Grabow set up the Royals attack with 41 assists. On defense,
Guillermo Jordan led the game with 12 digs and
Ananias Hayes added 11 digs.
The Royals will remain on the road as the season winds down with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 9. Queens will take on D'Youville College at 12:00 p.m. before battling the host team, Alderson Broaddus at 2:30 p.m. All matches will be held on the campus of Alderson Broaddus in Philippi, W.V.
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.
