[Men's Volleyball] Men's Volleyball falls to Coker in Season Opener

January 15th, 2019

By: Samantha Lowder, Sports Information 

HARTSVILLE, S.C. –The St. Andrews University men's volleyball team fell on the road to Div. II Coker College in four sets on Tuesday evening, 3-1. (18-25,26-28,25-17,22-25)

CC 3, SAU 1

Coker jumped out to a big 10-5 lead in the first, with the Knights trying to take the lead coming as close as 15-12, but the Cobras were able to take the first set 25-18. St. Andrews hit for .200 with 7 kills while the Cobras led hitting .368 with 11 kills. The second set was very close as the lead was consistently changing sides but unfortunately the Cobras pushed the Knights to cause a few errors towards the end of the set, helping Coker secure the second, 28-26.

The Knights had a rough start in the third set but impressively worked their way through a five-point deficit and went on a run against Coker. SAU would force the Cobras to another set with a 25-17 win, with the Knights hitting .524 compared to CC's .118.

Errors seemed to be the unfortunate factor for the Knights in the fourth set, although SAU closely trailed Coker throughout the whole set. The Cobras made the fourth set, the final set with a score of 25-22.

SAU finished hitting .181 with 40 kills while Coker hit .268 with 44 kills.

Sophomore outside hitter Diego Hernandez (SO/San Juan, Puerto Rico) led the Knights with 14 kills on six errors with five digs, and three aces as he hit .258. Junior setter Jackson Stark (JR/St.Louis, MO) then led with 36 assists and 6 digs with a block, two kills, and three aces.

Junior middle blocker Nate Blackwell (JR/Menifee, CA) hit .500 recording 9 kills and four blocks with only two errors. Outside hitter, Daryn Friedman (SO/Pembroke Pines, FL), tallied 3 kills and six digs with a block.

St. Andrews, now 0-1, will next travel to Lourdes University to compete in the Lourdes Invitational on January 25th.