ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Mount Union men's volleyball team (20-2, 13-2 MCVL) swept the Lions of Mount St. Joseph (12-4, 12-4 MCVL) in their final Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League doubleheader of the season on senior day and extend their winning streak to 18 to wrap up the regular season. 

Senior Justin Sibbel (Stow / Stow-Munroe Falls) was honored before today's first match. Sibbel leads the MCVL in total kills on the season as well as sits third in kills per set. 

Match One 

The Purple Raiders took down the Lions in three straight sets as they were led by Sibbel who collected 13 kills on the three-set match. Dishing out the assists was junior Jermey Leyden (Cuyahoga Falls / Akron Hoban) who had 39. Defensively for the Raiders was junior Steven Grenier (Hawthorn Woods, Ill. / Lake Zurich) who had 15 digs. 

The Raiders struggled to get going in the first set but capitalized on mistakes in the Lion offense to claim their first lead of the set at 21-20 to force a Lion timeout. Mount Union continued to rally and finished the set off a kill by Sibbel to put the Raiders up 25-22. Mount Union took control of the second set early going on a 6-3 run. The Raiders took their largest lead at 20-13 off a huge kill by junior Sam Matonis (Macedonia / Walsh Jesuit). A kill by sophomore Andrew Cross (St. Louis, Mo. / St. Louis University High) secured the 25-17 win for the Raiders in the second set. The Lions were able to keep tight with the Raiders in the third set, and a short 3-0 run had them up 9-8. Mount Union quickly responded and took charge the remainder of the set to force a Lions timeout at 14-11, and secure the set and match win off an impressive kill by Sibbel 25-20. 

Match Two 

Mount Union was again led by Sibbel offensively who tallied up 12 kills on the match followed by Matonis who had nine. Leyden continued dishing out assists as he racked up 29. Grenier and Sibbel each tallied up eight digs to help the Raider defense. 

The Raiders kept tight in the first set but began to pull away on a 16-14 run created by junior Mark Bruns (Columbus / Upper Arlington) followed by an ace by Luke Trzeciak (Cranberry, Pa. / Seneca Valley) to force a Mount St. Joseph timeout at 17-14. A block by Matonis and Sibbel put the Raiders up 20-17, but the Lions rallied back to tie it up at 23. A kill by Sibbel forced a timeout, and the Raiders took the win off a huge kill by Cross 25-23. Service errors were getting in the way for both teams, but the Raiders finally found a gap as Matonis got the kill at 10-9. The Raiders started to pull away but the Lions were able to tie it back up at 17 apiece. The Raiders regrouped as they trailed 22-21. The teams went back and forth until the Raiders capitalized on an attack error by the Lions and a kill by Sibbel secured the set win 31-19. An early Mount Union 6-4 run forced a Lions timeout. The Raiders maintained their lead throughout the set, taking advantage of gaps in the Lion defense and going on a 6-1 run to go up 22-10. The Raiders kept fighting and finished the set 25-13 to claim the match 3-0. 

Mount Union will entire MCVL tournament play as the 2 seed and are set to play at Fontbonne with an opponent and time to be determined.