CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball team bounced back from an early setback to secure a 3-1 victory over Catawba inside the Levine Center on Thursday, Jan. 30. After dropping a tightly contested first set, the Royals found their rhythm and controlled the remainder of the match.
SET ONE
Catawba edged out a tightly contested first set, taking advantage of errors from Queens while maintaining offensive pressure. Queens started strong with early kills from Nathan Vaupel and Chance Shampine, but Catawba responded with key plays from Eli Zdonek and Trevor Phillips. The set remained close with multiple lead changes, but a late service error and a final attack error by Queens handed Catawba the set.
SET TWO
Queens bounced back in another close set. Shampine and Carson Strawbridge led the way offensively, while the Royals also benefitted from Catawba's service errors. Queens had a slight edge throughout but had to hold off a late push from Catawba. A crucial block by Casey Maas and Reed Shuey secured the set win.
SET THREE
The Royals dominated the third set, capitalizing on Catawba's struggles. Queens hit at an impressive .529, with Vaupel and Strawbridge delivering on offense. Catawba's offense struggled, registering a negative hitting percentage (-.087). Queens built an early lead and never looked back, cruising to a 10-point win.
SET FOUR
Queens closed out the match in commanding fashion, maintaining a strong lead to the finish. Shampine and Strawbridge continued to be key contributors, while Vaupel and Sev Allton provided critical blocks later on. Despite a brief late push from Catawba with back-to-back service aces, Queens secured the match win with a final kill from Strawbridge.
"We did not play well in the first two sets, but it's been a tough week and we are just trying to get through it," Head Coach Jeremy Price said. "There's a lot of illness and sickness going around… Catawba also has been struggling with that. It was a match about survival and we survived… I thought Sev Allton came off the bench and really did a lot of things right for us, and it was huge. Our middles had a great match… Nathan Vaupel also had a great night. When you start to get point production out of your middles like that, it's all you can ask for."
ROYAL RUNDOWN
UP NEXT
The Royals next take on Lees-McRae on Friday, Jan 31 inside the Levine Center.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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