GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Rockford University men's volleyball team fell in five sets (14-25, 25-13, 17-25, 25-15, 15-13) in a neutral site match against Adrian College. The match went back and forth the entire day, with Rockford claiming the first and third sets convincingly and Adrian taking the second and fourth sets. The Regents then had an early 8-3 lead in the fifth, but the Bulldogs responded by outscoring Rockford 12-5 to win the set and the match. Rockford will play two more matches at the Calvin Invite on Saturday against the host Calvin University and North Park University.
- The first set went back and forth over the first 24 points. There were a total of nine ties and four lead changes with no team leading by more than two points over that stretch.
- With Rockford clinging to a 13-12 advantage, the Regents closed the set on a 12-2 run to take the opening set 25-14. Isaiah Dixon led the offensive attack with 3 kills, while Danny Karpenko had a pair of kills and a service ace to close out the first set.
- The second set went the opposite way with Adrian in control the majority of the time.
- The Bulldogs used an 8-2 run to grab an early 11-5 lead.
- Adrian's advantage hovered around five points until the Bulldogs, like Rockford in the first set, took control down the stretch.
- Adrian outscored Rockford 10-2 to win the second set 25-13 and tie the match at 1-1.
- The momentum then swung back to the Regents in the third set, as Rockford scored the first three points and never trailed.
- The Regents led by as many as four points at 9-5, 13-9, 15-11, 16-12 and 17-13 before once again seizing control towards the end of the set.
- Rockford ended on a 9-4 spurt to take the set 25-17 and grab a 2-1 lead. Three different Regents tallied a kill over that span, led by two kills from Isaiah Dixon.
- The fourth set mirrored the second with Adrian taking an early lead and never looking back.
- The Bulldogs used a 10-1 run midway through en route to winning the set 25-15 and tying the match at 2-2.
- The fifth and deciding set was the closest of any in the match.
- Rockford scored eight of the first 11 points to take an early lead. Nathan Simons and Josh Albers each had a kill, while Tsubasa Namai chipped in an ace.
- However, the Bulldogs hit right back with a 10-3 run of their own to take their first lead of the set at 13-11.
- Following a point by each team, Rockford dispelled one set point to make it a 14-13 Bulldog lead.
- Unfortunately, Adrian scored the final point to win the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
- Isaiah Dixon finished with a career-high 19 kills on 48 attack attempts. He also had 8 digs, 2 aces and a block.
- Josh Albers tallied a career-high 11 kills and only 1 attack error on 20 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage. He rounded out his day with 17 assists, 9 digs and 3 aces.
- Tsubasa Namai had 18 assists, 7 digs and 3 aces.
- Danny Karpenko broke the school record with 7 blocks in the match. He also had 4 kills, 3 assists, 2 digs and an ace.
