ST. LOUIS, Missouri - Mount Union's men's volleyball team erased a one set deficit and took the next three sets to win the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League Tournament over Fontbonne (Mo.) (22-25, 25-22, 25-16 and 25-22) Saturday afternoon to claim the Purple Raiders first ever tournament title.
 
Mount Union, now 14-11 overall, claims the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with the selections being announced Monday at 10:00 a.m. on NCAA.com.
 
The Raiders got 11 kills from Tournament MVP senior Mark Bruns (Columbus / Upper Arlington). Also on the All-Tournament team was juniors Luke Trzeciak (Cranberry, Pa. / Seneca Valley) and Cameron Ternent (Canal Fulton / Massillon Jackson) who finished with 14 and eight kills respectively.
 
Senior Jeremy Leyden (Cuyahoga Falls / Hoban) and freshman Will Heeney (Hudson / Walsh Jesuit) paced the Raiders in assists with 21 and 16. Senior libero Steven Grenier (Hawthorn Woods, Ill. / Lake Zurich) had a game-high 25 digs with Leyden and Trzeciak picking up eight each.
 
The Raider, ranked third in the nation in blocks, came up big on the net with junior Andrew Cross (St. Louis, Mo. / St. Louis University High) picking up six blocks with senior Sam Matonis (Macedonia / Walsh Jesuit) and freshman Jacob Nussdorfer (Lewis Center / Olentangy) picking up five each.  
 
Fontbonne (20-7) was led by Ryan Lively with 16 kills and 12 digs.
In the first set Fontbonne led 10-5 but Mount Union stormed back with a 10-2 run taking a 15-12 lead. Both teams battled through the rest of the set with neither team leading by more than two until Fontbonne closed the first set on a 5-2 run to win the set.
 
Set two saw the same jump for Fontbonne leading 10-6 this time the Raiders going on a 7-1 run taking the lead of 13-11. Fontbonne regained the lead with a 3-0 run however, Mount Union went on a 5-0 run to open the set up and take a 18-14 lead. Fontbonne got within one as Mount Union closed the door with the last two points of the set.
 
Mount Union dominated set three jumping out to a 15-9 lead. With the score at 17-12 in favor of the Raiders a 7-2 run pushed the lead out to 24-14 with the Raiders taking the set 25-16.
 
Set four saw five ties and three lead changes throughout play. Mount Union fell early 5-4 and 12-8. Mount Union got within two at 16-14 but two quick points for Fontbonne put the Raiders down 18-14. Mount Union once again went on a run this time of 3-0 to close within one point. Fontbonne led 20-18 but the Raiders finished off the set on another 7-2 run closing out the set and taking the match.