Men's Volleyball Finishes MSC Pod Play 2-1

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

Photo Courtesy of Roger St Clair

WALESKA, Ga. – Mid-South Conference (MSC) pod play was completed inside the Brown Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon, as nine men's volleyball matches went into the record books.

The Eagles (10-9, 8-6 MSC) went 2-1 in the event, including a 1-1 record against the likes of Bluefield (Va.) (W, 19-25, 25-15, 25-18, 25-20) and No. 3 Campbellsville (Ky.) (L, 19-25,9-25,15-25).

"This weekend was such an important one for our program," head coach CJ Shearer said. "We had a goal for the weekend: play hard and let the chips fall where they will. It wasn't always perfect, but I can say the guys hit that goal. We played solid volleyball on Friday, which was needed leading into a match with a very dangerous and peaking Bluefield team. The guys got off the rails in set one, and we addressed it between sets. The response they had was incredible. This was easily the most complete, energetic and focused matched this program has ever played. I was so proud to sit back and watch the guys play together for each other, and to have the result end the way we wanted, was huge. The fight they showed early against a great Campbellsville team was also tremendous, and I'll work on getting the team to compete against those high-level teams.

"Everything goes to God, and we look forward to Truett McConnell."

In match one, Reinhardt was able to overcome a 1-0 deficit in the contest and claim three-straight sets to earn back-to-back triumphs in conference pod play. The hometown team dominated on both ends of the net in sets two through four – .391, .304, .367 – while preventing the Rams from getting out of the red in stanzas two and three; and only hit .161 in game four.

Victor Pacheco claimed 16 kills, 6 digs and 4 aces, while Chase Cross was second on the team in scores with a double-double of 12 kills and 11 digs.

The hosts earned a total of 45 kills and only had 18 errors. Ricardo Mujica had a hand in 39 of those points with assists.

Defensively, the Eagles collected 16 assisted blocks and five solo rejections in the win.

In the final outing of the event, the Tigers showed why they are near the top of the NAIA in men's volleyball as they breezed to another sweep. A strong Campbellsville attack in all phases prevented Reinhardt from getting into a rhythm on either side, as the Eagles hit negative in every set.

Pacheco had a club-best eight kills and Seth Stankich pulled down a half-dozen digs.

Mujica added 14 more dimes.

The squad is back on the home court on Tuesday against Truett McConnell (Ga.) at 6 p.m.

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For more information on Reinhardt Men's Volleyball, please click here.