ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Mount Union men's volleyball team (21-2, 14-2 MCVL) fell to the Griffins of Fontbonne (19-2, 15-1 MCVL) the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League Championship match with a score of 3-1. Mount Union completes their 2021 season as they remained perfect on their home floor this season, and also went on an impressive 19 match winning streak. 

Sophomore Cameron Ternent (Canal Fulton / Massillon Jackson) led the way as he collected 13 kills. Following close behind offensively was senior Justin Sibbel (Stow / Stow-Munroe Falls) who had eight kills, as well as junior Sam Matonis (Macedonia / Walsh Jesuit) who tallied up 12 as well as led the team in blocks with six. Junior setter Jeremy Leyden continued dishing out assists as he came up with 42. Defensively, junior libero Steven Grenier (Hawthorn Woods, Ill. / Lake Zurich) led the way as he collected 23 digs. 

Both teams kept tight throughout the first set, but Ternent and Matonis gave the Raiders their first lead off a block at 10-9. Raiders continued to rally as an ace from junior Jimmy Entz (Coraopolis, Pa. / Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) resulted in a Fontbonne timeout at 13-10. Mount Union continued their rally off the timeout as they extended their lead to 17-10 to force a second Griffins timeout. A kill by Matonis gave the Raiders a 21-18 lead. Fontbonne rallied back and knotted up the set late at 22-22,  back-to-back kills from sophomore Andrew Cross (St. Lous, Mo. / St. Louis University High) and Sibbel solidified the set 25-23 for the Raiders. 

Mount Union got on the board first off a kill from Ternent and continued to remain tight with the Griffins throughout the majority of the set. The Griffins finally found a short 3-0 run to go up 19-17, but the Raiders regrouped to stop the damage and secured the serve back off a service error from Fontbonne. The Raiders sparked a late 4-1 run over the Griffins to knot it back up at 22-22 and force a Fontbonne timeout. The Griffins came out of the timeout with a 2-0 run to force set point, but the Raiders regrouped before Fontbonne captured the set two win, 25-23. 

Matonis with back-to-back kills kicked off the third set as the Raiders went up 2-0. A 5-0 run by the Griffins forced a Mount Union timeout at 10-6 and responded with two points to chip down on the Fontbonne lead at 10-8. Five straight service errors had the Raiders trailing at 16-12, but a kill from Cross helped spark a 3-1 run to come within two at 17-15. Mount Union kept within one, but the Griffins went on a 3-0 run to go up 23-19 forcing another Raider timeout. A kill from Sibbel off the timeout gave the Raiders their last point of the set as the Griffins rallied to take it 25-20. 

Neither team could catch a run early in the set as they went back and forth as it got knotted up seven times early on. The Griffins sparked a short run to take a 10-8 lead, but the Raiders responded right back as a block from Matonis and junior Mark Bruns (Columbus / Upper Arlington) knotted it back up at 10-10. The Griffins again found a short rally to go up 17-14, but the Raiders continued to rally back and a block from Matonis knotted things up at 17-17. The Raiders continued to keep tight as they regrouped trailing 23-20. The Raiders rallied back as they trailed 23-22, but the Griffins secured back-to-back points to take the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.