ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Rockford University men's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches in straight sets on Friday to Augustana and Fontbonne. Rockford never led in the first match against the Vikings (25-17, 25-19, 25-20), but played much better in the nightcap versus the Griffins (25-22, 25-19, 25-21). Rockford led in all three sets against Fontbonne and was within striking distance at the end of each one.
Augustana 3 Rockford 0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-20)
- Although the Regents never led in the opening set, Rockford hung with the Vikings for much of it.
- Rockford tied the match three times early on, at three, five and finally at seven after an Isaiah Dixon kill.
- With Augustana still only leading by two at 14-12, the Vikings scored the next four points to grab the largest lead thus far in the match.
- The Vikings extended their lead to as many as eight before ultimately winning the first set 25-17.
- The second set followed a similar pattern with Rockford tying the match four times early on but never leading.
- Isaiah Dixon was once again the catalyst for the RU attack. Dixon tied the match with kills on two of those four occasions.
- Unfortunately, it was a 7-0 run that gave the Vikings a 16-9 lead and control of the second set.
- Rockford was able to get back to within three following a 4-0 run. Isaiah Dixon continued his stellar evening with an ace and a back-to-back kills to make it 17-14.
- However, Augustana answered right back by scoring the next four points en route to taking the second set 25-19.
- The Regents got off to a slow start in the third set, falling behind 5-0.
- The Vikings led by as many as eight, before Rockford used an 8-1 run to get back to within a single point at 10-9.
- With Rockford still trailing by one at 16-15, Augustana ran off six straight points to essentially put the match out of reach.
- The Regents never got any closer than four the rest of the way, dropping the third set 25-20 and the match 3-0.
Fontbonne 3 Rockford 0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-21)
- The Griffins scored the first point of the match and opened up a quick 8-3 lead.
- Fortunately, Rockford responded with an 8-2 run to take its first lead of the day. Four different Regents had a kill, led by two from Nathan Vana.
- The back-and-forth nature of the set continued as the Griffins went on a 10-4 run to regain control of the set.
- The Regents pulled back to within two at 23-21, but Fontbonne was able to score two of the final three points and take the opening set 25-22.
- The second set saw three lead changes and six ties in the opening moments. Rockford led by as many as two points on multiple occasions, including at 7-5 after an Isaiah Dixon kill.
- Midway through the set however, Fontbonne outscored Rockford 12-4 and took the largest lead thus far for either team at 18-13.
- The Griffins' lead grew to as many as six en route to winning the second set 25-19 and grabbing a 2-0 lead.
- Rockford got off to a solid start in the third set. Nathan Simons scored a pair of points off a kill and an ace to give his team a 4-1 lead.
- With the Regents still leading by two, Fontbonne went on a 10-1 run to grab a 16-9 advantage.
- Rockford used a 6-1 spurt later in the set to get back to within two at 19-17. The Regents ran off four straight kills to end the run, including back-to-back kills from Nathan Vana.
- Unfortunately, it was the Griffins who closed out the set on a 6-4 run to secure the 25-21 win and the straight sets victory.
Augustana
- Isaiah Dixon finished with a match-high 13 kills on 24 attack attempts. He also added 3 blocks, 3 digs and 2 aces.
- Tsubasa Namai tallied a match-high 25 assists, 4 digs and 2 kills.
- Joseph Hinckley had 4 kills, 2 aces and a dig.
Fontbonne
