In a pair of hard-fought matches, Marymount men's volleyball continued its hot streak with victories over No. 13 UC Santa Cruz (3-0) and No. 15 Nichols College (3-2) on Sunday afternoon.  

NOTABLE

• Devon Robinson led the Saints with 27 kills on the day, including 20 against Nichols.
• Hayden Kerekes had 11 kills with no errors on the day, including nine against Nichols. Kerekes added nine blocks to his stat line.
• Will Wright led the Saints with 20 total digs, including 16 against Nichols.
• Grayson Andrews paced the Saints' offense with 72 total assists, including 48 against Nichols.
• Marymount is now riding a seven-game winning streak. 

UC SANTA CRUZ (W, 3-0)

• After starting the match pretty evenly matched, Marymount scored four straight points on the serve of Luke Morris to take a 16-9 lead in the middle of the set.
• The Saints maintained that advantage down the stretch and finished with the 25-17 set win on an ace from Esteban Jauregui (eight kills, .500 hitting percentage).
• In the second set, the Saints strung together a couple of three-point runs in the middle of the set to build a comfortable lead.
• Three straight points off the serve of Kerekes put MU on top, 23-14, on its way to a 25-16 set victory.
• After UCSC tied the set at 16-16, Marymount rattled off four straight points, including another ace from Jauregui, to take a 20-16 lead.
• The Saints kept the pressure and clinched the match with a 25-19 victory in the third set.
• Diego Pena was really strong for the Saints, picking up 11 kills and only recording one error against the Slugs. 

NICHOLS COLLEGE (W, 3-2)

• In the first set, both sides battled and Marymount held a 13-12 lead in the middle part of the set before gaining momentum down the stretch.
• The Saints scored the final three points of the set with kills from Pena and Mason Moore to win, 25-18.
• Nichols jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in the second set to take control early.
• Marymount rallied to cut the deficit to 14-12 on a kill from Jauregui and an ace from Robinson, but the Bison held their distance and prevailed, 25-22.
• The Saints won going away in the third set, 25-16.
• In a back-and-forth fourth set, Marymount held a 23-18 lead with the serve. Nichols responded by taking eight of the next nine points, including the final five to steal the set, 26-24.
• Nichols held an 8-5 lead at the side change in the deciding set.
• Marymount rallied to score nine of the final 11 points, with three coming from Robinson kills, to survive, 15-11.

UP NEXT

• Marymount will have almost two weeks off before hosting Penn State Altoona on Saturday, March 18 at 3 PM.

STORY COURTESY OF MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION