HIRAM, Ohio (Jan. 27)- The Saint Vincent men's volleyball team was defeated by Hiram and Adrian in a tri-match hosted by Hiram College on Saturday.
 
Hiram swept the Bearcats in the first match of the day by set scores of 20-25, 22-25, and 21-25. Adrian defeats SVC in Saint Vincent's final match of the day by a score of 3-1. The Bearcats won the first set 25-21, before falling in the next three sets by scores of 21-25, 21-25, and 17-25.
 
MATCH 1- Hiram 3, Saint Vincent 0
The Bearcats were led in their opening match by Zebadiah Wyant, who recorded a team-high 12 kills. Shawn McSwiggen finished with 11 kills and Rocco Marino tallied five kills for Saint Vincent as well.
 
McsSwiggen also led the Bearcats with nine digs, while Zach Wyant recorded eight digs. Wyant also totaled 33 assists in the loss.
 
Saint Vincent quickly opened up to a 5-3 lead in the opening set. Four of those points came on errors by the Terriers and a kill from Zeb Wyant.
 
Hiram answered, scoring the next four points and six of the next seven to take a 9-6 lead and never lost the lead from that point on in the set. The Bearcats kept the lead close, cutting the lead to just two points twice at 18-16 and then 20-18.
 
The Terriers outscored Saint Vincent 5-2 over the final seven points to win the set (25-20), taking a 1-0 lead.
 
It was much of the same story in the second set as the Bearcats once again jumped out to an early 3-2 lead after two errors by Hiram and a kill from Matthew Minkin. Over the next several points both teams traded back-and-forth as the Bearcats still led by one at 15-14.
 
Hiram scored the next three points to take a 17-15 lead and after a kill from McSwiggen, the Terriers scored four more in a row to increase their lead to 21-16. SVC answered with a 6-3 run to cut the lead to two at 24-22, before a Bearcat ball handling error handed the set to Hiram (25-22), as the Terriers took a 2-0 lead.
 
The first 16 points of the third set were traded equally as it was tied 8-8. Saint Vincent went on a quick 5-0 run, two of which came on kills from McSwiggen and also a kill from Zeb Wyant to take a 13-8 lead.
 
Hiram answered once again, tying the set at 14-14 and then 17-17. The Terriers scored the next three points to take a 20-17 lead and never lost the lead the rest of the way, securing the set win (25-21) and the match sweep.
 
GAME 2- Adrain 3, Saint Vincent 1
Zeb Wyant once again led the way for the Bearcats in their final game of the day, recording a team-high 11 kills, while also scooping up seven digs.
 
Minkin recorded nine kills and a team-best eight digs. Zach Wyant recorded a game-high 28 assists, while also recording seven kills. Rocco Marino tallied three blocks and Stephen Laun added two service aces.
 
The Bearcats won a back-and-forth opening set over Adrian. The early portions of the set saw the teams tied multiple times, before the Bearcats opened out to an 18-15 lead after an ace from Zach Wyant. The Bearcats increased their lead to four at 24-20 after kills from Zeb Wyant and Zach Wyant.
 
Marino closed out the opening set win (25-21) with a kill for the Bearcats to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
It was all Adrian in the second set as the Bulldogs led the entirety of the set. Adrain quickly opened up to a 9-3 lead and still led by six at 19-13. Saint Vincent cut the lead to three at 24-21 but Adrian closed the set win (25-21) out with a service error by SVC to tie the match up 1-1.
 
The third set went back-and-forth early on with both teams seeing themselves tied at 7-7. SVC took the first advantage at 12-9 before Adrian scored three straight to tie the set at 12-12 and eventually took the lead at 17-15.
 
The Bulldogs further increased their lead to five at 21-16. The Bearcats once again cut it to three at 24-21, but Adrian won the set (25-21) on a kill to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
It was all Terriers in the fourth set as they once again never lost the lead in the set. After the Bearcats were trailing just 8-6, Adrian outscored them 17-11 over the remaining points to win the set (25-17) and the match 3-1.
 
Saint Vincent returns to action on Tuesday, January 30, playing host to Carlow in a non-conference matchup. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Robert S. Carey Center.