SPRINGFIELD, Oh. — The No. 7 Southern Virginia University men's volleyball team wrapped up their first day of competition and their season opener at the 2020 Jim Coleman Invitational with a victory over Mount St. Joseph's in a five-set thriller by the score of 26-24, 13-25, 25-29, 18-25, 15-10 and dropped their second match to Augustana in four sets 17-25, 25-21, 19-25, 27-29.

Mark Stapley led the way in game one for the Knights (1-1) with a game-high 11 kills and 13 digs. Nahuel Recabarren followed Stapley with ten kills and four digs. Kaipo Tagaloa orchestrated the offensive attack with a game-high 33 assists and ten digs. Curtis Stone impressed in his debut as a Knight with a game-high five blocks.

The first set featured both teams exchanging points before Southern Virginia University began to pull ahead with an 18-14 lead off of two costly Lion's attacking errors and kills from Tagaloa and Recabarren. The Knights built a five-point 22-17 lead before Mount St. Joseph went on a 7-1 run to go ahead by one point 24-23. Recabarren prevented losing the set with a kill and forced extra points at 24 points apiece. With an attacking error from the Lions and a kill from Tagaloa, Southern Virginia University took the first set of the game 26-24. 

Beginning the second set, Mount St. Joseph dominated early with a 7-0 start and did not look back. Southern Virginia University answered with an 8-4 run of their own to cut the Lions' lead to three 8-11. Mount St. Joseph did not let the Knights keep their momentum and outscored Southern Virginia University the remainder of the set 14-5, winning the second set 25-13 to even the score at 1-1 in the match. 

The Knights flipped the script in the third set, establishing an early 9-2 lead. The Lions went on a 7-2 run to make it a two-point game 11-9. After Southern Virginia University went on 5-0 run, both teams exchanged points the remainder of the set before Recabarren scored the final point to give the Knights the set victory. 

Mount St. Joseph dominated in the fourth set, building an 18-11 lead that would lead to their victory. After two kills from Sam Candland and Jeremy Brown making the score 17-20, the Lions used a 5-1 run to force a fifth set 25-13. 

In the fifth set, Tagaloa used two service aces to accelerate the Knights to a 4-1 lead. After swapping points at 7-5, Southern Virginia outscored Mount St. Joseph 8-5, the remainder of the set led by Stapley's four kills to lock in their first victory of the season. 

In the second match of the day, Stapley had ten kills along with eight digs in the match. Paul Candland joined Stapley with ten kills of his own. Tyler McCreadie followed closely with nine kills and one block. Tagaloa dished out 26 assists, and Monte Tukumoeatu held the defense down with a game-high 11 digs. 

The Knights dropped their first set of the game after falling behind 19-13 midway through the set. The Vikings (1-1) used a kill from Luis Zavala and an attacking error from Southern Virginia University to take the 1-0 lead in the match. 

In the second set, the Knights took an early 12-6 lead. After Augustana went on a 7-2 to make the score 14-13, Southern Virginia managed to hold off the Vikings' momentum and even the score at 1-1 off a Stapley kill and an attacking error from Augustana. 

Midway through the third set, the Vikings built a 22-16 lead after a 6-2 run led by Ryan Hirschel's three kills. After a Jason Szara kill and an attacking error from the Knights, Augustana took the 2-1 lead. 

The final set featured back and forth action by both teams and was tied 17-17 midway through the set. Both sides again exchanged points until extra points were needed. The Vikings utilized two errors from the Knights to take the fourth set and the match victory. 

Southern Virginia University continues tournament play on Saturday, Jan. 18 facing off against Wittenberg.