BELMONT, N.C. — A double-double of 19 kills and 12 digs from Jack Brinkman piloted the Royals' victory over the Crusaders on Wednesday night in a 3-1 decision (25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 25-18).
SET BY SET
Belmont Abbey and Queens battled point-by-point in the first set, led by the offensive efforts of Stirling Sims and Jack Brinkman on the Royals side while Zach Puentes paced the Belmont Abbey crew. A late four-point run consisting of a Brinkman kill, a Jackson Maples service ace, a Crusaders attack error, and a massive block from Shaphar Grant and Brinkman would seal the 25-23 Queens victory.
The Royals snagged a comfortable lead in the second set, grabbing as large as an eight-point lead. Belmont Abbey found sparks throughout, but the Royals secured a 25-19 victory after a fourth service error from the Crusaders in the frame.
Belmont Abbey swiped a victory in the third set after holding the Royals to a .182 hitting percentage. A solid 12-kill performance from the Crusaders would round out the 25-22 win.
In the fourth and final set, the Royals found no trouble keeping a lead — grabbing a seven-point advantage numerous times in the frame. Despite a trio of service errors later on in the set, a solid .414 hitting percentage from the Royals gave the squad their fourth victory in a row (25-18) on the 2024 season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Along with Brinkman's first double-double performance of the season, the outside hitter added in four aces. Grant finished his night with a solid five blocks, while Daniel Leitao tallied 37 assists.
REMARKS FROM COACH PRICE
"I think the third set was a good wake-up call and I thought we answered it," Head Coach Jeremy Price said. "I knew Belmont Abbey was going to be extremely prepared for this match. The third set was sloppy, but in the fourth set we showed some maturity. We kept the service pressure on them."
Speaking on Brinkman's performance, "He got a lot of out-of-system balls and we went to him a lot. He does a great job of putting the ball away when we need it."
UP NEXT
The Royals will head to Loretto, Pa. to face the New Jersey Institute of Technology in a neutral match at 7 PM on Saturday, Jan. 27. On Sunday, the Royals will face Saint Francis at 1 PM.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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