BUENA VISTA, Va. — The Southern Virginia University men's volleyball team defeated Cal Lutheran in a five-set thriller Saturday night by the score of 27-29, 25-20, 19-25, 25-16, 15-8. 

Paul Clark shined in the match for the Knights (11-3, 4-0 CVC) with 16 kills on 29 total attempts to earn the .414 hitting percentage. Freshman middle McKay Walker impressed as well with ten kills on 15 total attempts to lock in the .400 hitting percentage while Mark Stapley recorded a game-high 13 digs. Kaipo Tagaloa dished out a game-high 45 assists while Curtis Stone dominated at the net with a game-high five blocks. Southern Virginia outhit Cal Lutheran (9-13) .260 to .123 on the night. 

Early in the first set, the Kingsmen established an early 9-7 lead on the Knights before using a 6-0 run to extend their lead to eight points 15-7. Southern Virginia answered with a 5-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to three points 15-12. After exchanging points, the Knights used a Mark Stapley kill to spark an 8-2 run to take the lead in the set 23-21. Both teams would trade points with extra points needed with Cal Lutheran coming away with the set win 29-27. 

Midway through the second set with the Kingsmen holding on to 15-13 lead, Stapley again initiated an 8-3 run to take the lead late in the second set 21-17. Five points later, Recabarren used a final kill and service ace to close out the second set and tie the match 1-1. The Knights outhit the Kingsmen .440 to .160, with Walker leading all players with four kills in the second set. 

With the score 7-6 in favor of Cal Luthern, the Kingsmen extended their lead to five points 12-7 following a kill from Patrick Rowe kill and would go on to use another 4-1 run after a Cal Lutheran service error to make the new score 16-9. Following a timeout by Southern Virginia, the Knights came within two points 18-16 after a 7-2 run initiated by a Stone kill. Cal Luthern would outscore the Knights the remainder of the set 7-3 to take the third 25-19 and jump ahead 2-1 in the match. 

Southern Virginia established an 8-6 early in the fourth set and then used an 8-2 run after a Walker and Recabarren block to double up the Kingsmen 16-8.  Both teams went back and forth the remainder of the set before a Cal Lutheran attacking error gave Southern Virginia the set one forcing a fifth set 25-16. The Knights defense held strong in the fourth forcing the Kingsmen to hit .000 while Southern Virginia hit .259. 

Cal Lutheran looked to take the fifth set after jumping ahead 2-1, but the Knights scored seven unanswered points to make the new score 9-3 in the fifth. The Kingsmen chipped away at the deficit coming within four points 9-5, but a Walker and Recabarren kill would elevate the lead back up to six points 11-5. After a two-point run by Cal Lutheran, Recabarren recorded his final kill of the night, and Samuel Candland tallied his third service ace on the night to make the new score 13-7. Following a service error, Tagaloa closed out the game with a kill and service ace to lock in the Southern Virginia victory 15-8. 

The Knights will continue their season hosting No.4 Dominican (IL) in Knight Arena on Tuesday, Mar. 10. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m.