DE PERE - St. Norbert College split a pair of matches at a home triangular, topping Calvin University 3-1 before falling 3-0 to No. 5-ranked California Lutheran University at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.
The Green Knights (8-6), who matched a program high for wins with the victory over Calvin, topped the Knights 17-25, 25-15, 25-20, 25-21. St. Norbert then fell to Cal Lutheran (13-4) by scores of 25-20, 25-17, 25-16.
The Green Knights had a sluggish first set against Calvin, trailing 16-14 before the Knights went on a 5-0 run to solidify an eventual 1-0 lead. St. Norbert responded right away in Set 2, taking a 5-0 lead behind a pair of
Kaden Kornaus kills. Calvin got within 12-7 and 13-8 before St. Norbert before a 6-3 run gave the host a 19-11 lead.
St. Norbert trailed 10-7 in Set 3 before going on a 6-1 run to take a 13-11 lead. The Green Knights led 17-15 before scoring three of the next four points to get some breathing room and eventually take a 2-1 lead. Calvin led 15-13 in Set 4 before a 4-0 run for St. Norbert gave it a lead it would not relinquish. St. Norbert led 19-18 and then got kills from
Owen Knezevich, Kornaus and
Michael Whitney followed by a block from Kornaus and
Kade Nelson for a 23-18 edge.
St. Norbert hit .287, with 47 kills against 14 errors in 115 attempts. Kornaus had 14 kills against no errors in 22 attempts for a school match record hitting percentage of .636.
Barry Applewhite added 10 kills. Knezevich and
Mason Werner had seven kills apiece. Whitney had 34 assists. Nelson added two service aces.
Ryan Conway led the back row with 14 digs. Applewhite had five blocks, while Werner added three and Kornaus two.
Against Cal Lutheran, St. Norbert struggled to slow down a potent Kingsmen offense, which it .420 with 43 kills and nine errors in 81 attempts.
The first set saw an 11-7 Cal Lutheran lead rupture into a 17-10 advantage to take control. St. Norbert held leads of 10-8 and 12-11 in Set 2, but Cal Lutheran went on a 6-0 run after a 13-13 tie to solidify a 2-0 lead. The third set featured six ties in the early going before the Kingsmen made a 9-8 lead and 15-9 edge.
St. Norbert hit .901, with 27 kills and 19 errors in 88 attempts. Kornaus had nine kills, while Knezevich had eight. Whitney finished with 22 assists and nine digs.
