LATROBE, Pa. (Jan. 12) – The Saint Vincent College men's volleyball team opened its 2024 campaign in fine fashion, outlasting Division II Lees-McRae for a 3-2 victory in the Robert S. Carey Student Center.
 
In the back-and-forth affair, the Bearcats (1-0) dropped the first set, 25-17, before taking the second and third sets by scores of 25-20 and 25-21. The Bobcats (0-2) answered back to tie the match with a 25-23 set four win, but SVC would then close out the victory by taking the fifth and deciding set, 15-13.
 
Shawn McSwiggen paced the Bearcats with an 18-kill, 15-dig double-double, while classmate Matthew Minkin also reached double digits in both categories with 15 kills and 10 digs. Zebadiah Wyant was a third SVC player to reach double figures in kills, with 10. In his collegiate debut, freshman Rocco Marino recorded five blocks, including four solos, while Minkin put down 10 blocks. Libero Matthew Klasnic held down the back line, recording 11 digs, while setter Zach Wyant dished out 40 assists.
 
In the opening set, the teams traded points in the early going, sharing four ties and three lead changes, before the Bobcats rattled off a 5-2 run to take a 13-9 lead. Saint Vincent chipped away at the gap, pulling to within three points on three different occasions, lastly at 18-15 on a McSwiggen kill. The Bobcats then seized momentum, however, closing on a 7-2 run to take the set, 25-17.
 
SVC jumped out to a 3-1 lead early in the second set, with kills from McSwiggen and Zebadiah Wyant sandwiching a Lees-McRae error. The visitors then charged back to eventually open up an 11-7 lead, but the Bearcats countered with a lengthy run of their own. Aided by three Bobcat errors, SVC cut the gap to 16-14, before scoring seven of the next eight points, with two kills from Minkin, to open up a 21-17 Lees-McRae made it a one-point lead with three straight points, but SVC scored the final four points of the set, with a Zach Wyant ace sealing the 25-20 win to tie the match.
 
In the third set, the Bearcats were forced to play from behind from the start, with Lees-McRae taking a quick 4-0 lead. SVC promptly cut into the deficit, pulling to within 5-4 after two kills from McSwiggen and one from Marino, before tying the match at 8-8 after a pair of Bobcat errors and Minkin's first kill of the set. After the teams traded points over the next several serves, kills from Zach Wyant and Minkin gave SVC its first lead of the set, 17-16. The Bobcats scored the next point to tie it, but McSwiggen produced points on back-to-back serves, first with a block and then a kill, to give the Bearcats a 19-17 lead. The hosts maintained the lead for the remainder of the set, with Marino's block closing out the 25-21 set win and give the Bearcats a 2-1 lead.
 
The fourth set saw Saint Vincent take early leads of 7-4 and 10-7, but the Bobcats answered with a long 9-2 run to take a 16-12 advantage. Not to be deterred, SVC charged right back to regain the lead, 17-16, after kills from Marino and McSwiggen and a Lees-McRae error. The Bearcats took a 20-18 lead on another Minkin kill, but the visitors scored six of the next seven points to gain a 24-21 advantage. Minkin tallied kills on back-to-back serves to pull to within one, but the Bearcats were unable to complete the comeback, with the Bobcats earning a 25-23 win to tie the match and send it to a decisive fifth set.
 
Saint Vincent charged out to a quick 4-0 lead in the final frame, with McSwiggen tallying a kill and a block and Zebadiah Wyant and Minkin each recording kills. Back-to-back kills from Zebadiah Wyant upped the SVC lead to 6-2, but the Bobcats refused to go away, closing the deficit to 7-6. Another Wyant kill, followed by a Lees-McRae error, put SVC back in front by three, 10-7, but again the Bobcats came back, using a 6-3 run to tie the set at 13. McSwiggen's 15th kill of the night quickly gave the lead back to the Bearcats, 14-13, before SVC clinched the 15-13 victory on a Lees-McRae error to take the match.
 
The Bearcats hit a solid .209 in the win, compared to the Bobcats' .191 mark, while Saint Vincent more than doubled-up its opponent in blocks, 13-6.
 
Saint Vincent will now have a week-long layoff before it hosts the two-day, 11-match Presidents' Athletic Conference Preview Tournament on Friday, Jan. 19, and Saturday, Jan. 20. The Bearcats will play a pair of matches on the opening night of the tourney, taking on Chatham on Friday at 3:30 p.m., and then Geneva at 7:30 p.m.