Eutectics battle and come close, but Ottawa claims the W

(Photo courtesy of Rodrigue Koutoglo)

ST. LOUIS, MO – After the Eutectics opened their conference season with a road win at Culver-Stockton on Tuesday, UHSP tried to make it two straight in the HEART as they hosted Ottawa on Friday night. Cooper Hansen pounded out 16 kills, but it was not enough as the Braves won in four sets, 25-21, 18-25, 29-27, 25-22.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

• OU finished with a match-best .306 hitting percentage in their opening set win. UHSP dominated the play at the net in set two swinging with 25.9% success while the Braves hit at just 10%. Ottawa edged out USHP in hitting success in sets three and four, which followed the pattern of the way the set scores fell.
• Ottawa used a pair of moderate length runs to claim the opening set. Trailing 6-5, the Braves five of the next seven while later on an 8-2 run turned a 13-13 set into a 21-15 lead. Cameron Werner had a pair of kills to bring the Purple and Gold to within three at 22-19 and after a Macort Pickup kill, Dickson Colado notched kill followed by an OU error and USHP trailed 23-21. Ottawa took the next two points to claim the opening set.
• Set two was tied six different times all in the first 14 points. Grant Hoover put down a pair of kills and OU had a pair of errors and a 4-0 run gave UHSP an 10-7 lead, one they would never relinquish. The Euts had another 4-0 run highlighted by kills from Xander Quenzer, Hansen and Grant Hoover and then a 5-0 run later with two Werner kills, one from Hansen and an ace from RJ Dilks forging a 20-14 lead. UHSP took five of the final six points to even the match at a set apiece as Hoover got the set clinching kills.
• Hoover and Hansen had back-to-back kills followed by a Brave hitting errors to give UHSP the first two-point lead of the third set at 10-8. The two clubs split the next 16 points putting the Eutectics ahead 18-16. Ottawa scored two straight to tie it at 18-18, but Hansen ripped one home to go up 19-18. But the Braves got three straight kills (two from Leo Betin and one from Kadeem Morris) to take a 21-19 advantage. But UHSP had a chance to claim the set as they scored three straight on a Colado kill, Werner ace and OU error to lead 23-22. The set went deep into the 20's as each team had chances to close it out. The Eutectics had two set points and Ottawa had three with the Braves closing things out on the finale of those three using a UHSP error to finish it.
• The fourth set early on was a set of runs. Ottawa took five of the first seven, but the Euts responded with a 5-0 run to lead 7-5. After the clubs traded points, OU scored four straight, then UHSP three in a row as UHSP led 11-10. Then it was back and forth over the ensuing 14 to see the Eutectics lead 18-17. A Petar Lazic kill and three straight UHSP errors put Ottawa on top 21-19. UHSP closed to within a point three different times after that but could never get it tied or take the lead as Ottawa's last four points came on Eutectic hitting errors.
• Grant Hoover had 13 kills, but eight hitting errors for the Eutectics finishing with a .143 hitting percentage. He added 12 digs on the night. Dickson Colado had a dozen kills with just four errors and swung at 30.8%.
• RJ Dilks had a season-best 47 digs, better than double his previous season high of 23.
• Xavier Gamayo had a club-leading 15 digs and also six assists.
• Leo Betin and Marko Zolnjan were busy for the Braves as Betin had 36 attack chances and Zolnjan had 31. They each registered a team leading 13 kills. Petar Lazic was the most reliable offensive weapon for Ottawa with ten kills and just two errors on 21 chances for a hitting percentage of 38.1%.
• Marton Zarka and Quentin Le Dortz split 41 assists with Zarka having 21. Nazmi Bayoglu led OU with 19 digs.
• UHSP edged OU in total kills, 56-52, but the Braves racked up 26 total blocks to 11 for the Euts.

UP NEXT:

It will be a short turnaround for the Eutectics (3-3, 1-1 HEART) as the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes (2-5, 0-2 HEART) are in town Saturday morning for an 11:00a conference affair. The Coyotes spent Friday night in St. Louis and lost in straight sets to conference-rival Missouri Baptist, 25-16, 25-14, 25-23. It will be the last home contest for UHSP for a while as they are away for five straight road matches before returning home for a Mar. 4 non-conference date with Cumberland. UHSP and the Braves meet again late in the season, in fact the penultimate match of the regular season at Ottawa on April. 4