ALLIANCE, Ohio – Mount Union's men's volleyball team defeated Spalding in Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League play in five sets, 25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 23-25 and 15-13 on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Purple Raiders (8-11, 2-1 MCVL) were led offensively by senior Michael Bowler (Broadview Heights / Brecksville-Broadview Heights) who had 27 kills and sophomore Carson Jeffers (Amherst) with 10 kills. 
 
Freshman Drew Stein (Columbus / Olentangy Orange) led the way with 30 assists, while fellow freshman Justin Peters (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) had 20. Defensively junior Peyton Koszelak (Eden, N.Y. / Eden) led the way with 17 digs and Bowler finished with 11 digs and 6 blocks.
 
The Golden Eagles (6-7, 1-3 MCVL) were led by Aakash Malvankar who had 19 kills and Brayden Overberg who had 47 assists and led the way with 12 digs.
 
The two teams would go back-and-forth to begin set one with neither team being able to gain an edge until with the game tied at 12 apiece. Mount Union went on a 3-1 run beginning with a block from Bowler and Justin Dickson finished by a kill from Bowler. The remainder of the set would be under the Raiders' control as they kept the lead and finished the set 25-18 with 2 back-to-back solo blocks by Maddox Snyder.
 
Mount Union would capture an early 8-0 run in set two to obtain a 12-4 lead when the run was ended by Tye-Anthony Curtis from the Golden Eagles. The Raiders would then go on to secure their lead and finish the set 25-14 with a 10-5 run. 
 
The third set would begin with the Raiders taking a 10-6 lead; however, the Golden Eagles would respond with a 4-2 run to tie the game 11-11. The two teams would battle back and forth point for point until the Raiders gain a small 3-1 run to lead 21-19. Spalding would not back down and responded with a 6-2 run to take the set 25-23 with back-to-back kills from Max Atherton. 
 
The Golden Eagles would jump out to an early 5-3 lead to start the fourth set before the Raiders would slowly begin to gain momentum and tie the game at 6-6. The teams would go back-and-forth over the next several points until the Raiders pick up a 19-17 lead. The Golden Eagles would go on a 3-1 run to tie the set at 20-20. The Golden Eagles kept the momentum to take the set 25-23 finishing with a kill from Brayden Overberg and force adversity on Mount Union to a fifth set. 
 
Mount Union would jump out to a 6-3 lead to open the fifth and final set. The Raiders would maintain their lead over the next several points while the Golden Eagles try to creep in. Mount Union kept a steady lead taking the 5th set 15-13. 
 
The Raiders are back in action on March 11th  when they travel to Buffalo, New York to face Buffalo State University at 5 p.m.