JOHNSON, VT. - First year
Jordan Rodriguez (East Providence, R.I.) commanded the floor with a team-leading eight kills as the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's volleyball team downed Vermont State University Johnson in straight sets (25-9, 25-16, 25-19) for the second time on the day in Vermont on Saturday afternoon.
The win sees the Lyons improve to .500 on the season at 5-5, while the loss puts the Badgers at 3-7 on the year.
Wheaton hit .263 as a team, highlighted by an opening set that saw them make only a single error. They finished that frame with a .444 average, while holding their opponents to -.250 in the opening set.
While Rodriguez had the game-high with eight kills on an eye-watering .462 hitting, he had a pair of teammates just behind him as first year right side hitter
Ryan Rathbun (North Kingstown, R.I.) put down eight and first year outside hitter
Masiah Prak (Coventry, R.I.) finished with seven. First year setter
Sebastian DeCubellis (Lincoln, R.I.) picked up 16 assists to lead the team, while first year libero
Stephen Dufour (North Kingstown, R.I.) led the team with seven digs. DeCubelis, Prak and Rodriguez each totaled six digs in the second game on the day.
Rodriguez opened up the game with a kill to get the ball rolling on the back half of the Saturday doubleheader. A slew of errors from the Badgers gifted the Lyons an early 6-1 lead, foreshadowing the remainder of the frame. The Lyons exploded for 11 straight points highlighted by two kills from sophomore
Jack Kenyon (Westerly, R.I.) and a healthy helping of errors by the other team. Prak and Rodriguez would both earn kills down the stretch as the Lyons continued to pull further and further away from their hosts, before first year
Landon Hanscom (New Haven, Conn.) finished off the frame with a kill. The Lyons would take the opening set by an overwhelming 25-9.
Prak opened up the second set with a kill, just as Rodriguez had in the first, but the Badgers were able to stick around more than they had in the prior frame. Wheaton would make a few attacking errors early, but Prak would put down another kill to keep the Lyons up 4-2. Rodriguez added a kill of his own to make it 5-3, but a number of errors from both sides saw the score climb up to 10-8. Rathbun kept the Lyons ahead with a kill, but two errors reversed his work. The Badgers came within one point at 11-10, but the Lyons were able to pull away thanks to a 10-1 scoring run. Rathbun and Rodriguez each put down kills over that run, giving Wheaton a big 23-12 lead. The Badgers were able to string together four consecutive points, but finished with a service error and an attacking error to give the second set to Wheaton, 25-16.
The third set started the same as the previous two; with Wheaton pounding down a kill for the first point. This time it was DeCubellis' turn, and he wasted no time in scoring twice for the Lyons. A third kill helped the Lyons to a 7-3 lead, but the Badgers were resilient and not out of the game yet. They managed to hang around despite a 5-0 scoring run by Wheaton, answering with a 5-0 run of their own a few points later. A Rathbun kill had the Lyons securely in front at 19-17, but the momentum was firmly with the Badgers. Rathbun would find another kill late, and sophomore
Ellis Vasquez (Medford, Mass.) would put down a kill of his own to set up match point at 24-19. It was Rathbun who had the honors of putting the match to rest, doing so with a kill to secure the sweep for his team.
The Lyons will take on their neighborly rivals Dean in a rematch on the road on Tuesday at 7:00 pm. The Badgers will stay in Vermont and take the week off as they get set to host Russell Sage in a doubleheader on Saturday, February 21.
