HARRISONBURG, Va. - The Bethany College men's volleyball team closed the EMU Royals Tournament hosted by Eastern Mennonite (Va.) University where they fell to Rutgers University-Newark by a final score of 3-0 and fell to the host Eastern Mennonite by a final score of 3-0 in Yoder Arena.
Bethany (0-5) closed out the EMU Royals Tournament as they played tough against Rutgers-Newark (5-2) who received votes in the latest AVCA Top-20 Poll. The Bison then took on the host Eastern Mennonite (2-4) where all three sets went down to the wire, but the Royals came out on top to salvage a victory in their home tournament.
vs. Rutgers-Newark
- Sophomore All-PAC outside hitter Riley Burdett (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) tied a match-high seven kills while also adding two assists and two digs
- Sophomore Academic All-PAC libero Cole Thomas (Lindside, W.Va./James Monroe) led the Bethany defense with four digs and contributed two assists
- Sophomore setter Baylen Loosier (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Science & Tech Academy) assisted a team-best seven times and put down one kill
- Freshman right-side hitter Julian Huerta (Bolingbrook, Ill.) added four kills
- Freshman setter Zachary Kay (Little Egg Harbor, N.J./Pinelands) and sophomore Academic All-PAC setter Logan Mills (Barrie North, Ontario/Eastview Secondary School) tallied four assists and three assists, respectively, while Mills posted the Bison's only solo block of the day
at Eastern Mennonite
- Junior middle blocker McKay Ginez (Santa Maria, Calif./Pioneer Valley) finished with six digs, five kills, and one assist
- Freshman outside hitter Adrian Taylor (Newark, Ohio) and sophomore middle blocker Emilio Feliciano (El Mirage, Ariz./Dysart) each recorded four kills
- Freshman middle blocker Cyrus Chappell (Junction City, Ore) led the team at the net with two block assists while also adding two kills and two aces
- Huerta notched a career-high nine kills and eight digs to lead the Green and White in both categories
- Kay led the team in assists with 12 while Mills assisted nine times
- Thomas tied a team-high eight digs with four assists
- Taylor's statline also consisted of four digs, two aces, and one block assist
The Bison are back in action on Tuesday, February 3 as they travel to Rio Grande, Ohio to take on the University of Rio Grande (Ohio) in an exhibition match at 6 p.m. in Newt Oliver Arena.
