Carly Bettencourt

QUINCY, ILL –The Quincy University men’s volleyball team hosted No. 7 Ohio State Friday (Jan. 29) in their home opener.  Even with a rambunctious crowd the hawks fell in three sets, 25-21, 25-13, and 25-23.

The Buckeyes (6-2, 1-0 MIVA) came out hot hitting .451 for the entire match and holding Quincy (4-5, 0-1 MIVA) to a .227.

The Hawks battles hard in Set 1, trailing 10-8 before they went on a 4-0 run with leadership from senior Ian Lawson (Glen Ellyn, Ill. /Glenbard West) on serves. To finish off the hawks run he earned an ace, one of three for Quincy.

The Hawks lost some momentum and fell in Set 1 25-21, which carried into the Set 2. Here the Buckeyes hit .667 compared to the Hawks minus -.053. They scored the first four points and continued on a roll.

Quincy came into set 3 leading parts of it and pushing Ohio State to a timeout after gaining a 9-5 lead. This surge came from senior Jack Gamache (St. Charles, Mo/ Francis Howell Central) and junior Jarrod Kelso (Hilliard, Ohio/ Hilliard Darby) double block.

The Buckeyes evened the score at 15-15 when Nicholas Szerszen served an ace to take the lead. After trading sideouts the Buckeyes pulled the lead to 24-21. Christian Franceschi finished the match with a kill.

Lawson led the Hawks with eight kills while senior Chris Chappelle (Los Angeles, Calif. / Westchester/San Diego City) gave the team seven kills and eight digs. Junior Thane Fanfulik (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) gave out an impressive 22 assists, five kills on five attacks and two service aces.

Quincy returns to Pepsi Arena next Friday (Feb. 5) at 7 p.m. as they take on last year’s national runner-up, No. 13 Lewis.