Rochester, NY – Southern Virginia Men's Volleyball returned from a successful road trip over the weekend to the Rochester, New York area. The Knights played No. 13 Nazareth University (12-4), No. 16 Hobart College (11-7), No. 9 Vassar College (16-5), and No. 7 St. John Fisher University (19-2). The Knights won all four matches in perfect 3-0 sweeps.
 
The Knights played Nazareth College on Thursday night earning a .470 team hitting percentage. Kyler Evans, Christian Sheaffer, and Kristo Bianchin led the Knights' offense. Southern Virginia also displayed impressive defense. Justin Madsen and Jayton Hall combined for over half of the team's digs – Knights out digging the Golden Flyers 26 to 9. Hall also contributed seven kills and two service aces. Jaren Brown served up five of the team's seven total service aces for the match. Curtis Stone notched a timely block assist.
 
Friday afternoon, the Knights traveled to Geneva, NY to take on Hobart College. the Knights outperformed the Statesmen in every statistical category, holding them to a .077 team hitting percentage. Samuel Candland, Jeremy Brown, Quin Shumway, and Christian Sheaffer led Southern Virginia's offense – the team hit .352 for the match. Brown, Candland, Sheaffer and Tyler Sheaffer each contributed a solo block during the match. Setter, Tyler Sheaffer had a team high of 13 digs for the match. Jaren Brown served up two of the team's four service aces.
 
On Saturday, the Knights took on Vassar College and St. John Fisher in back-to-back matches on the St. John Fisher campus in Pittsford, NY. The Knights were hungry for a rematch with Vassar, who put an end to the Knights' NCAA Tournament run during the 2023 season. The Knights and Brewers were evenly matched in every statistical category. However, SVU out hit Vassar in each set, ending the match with a .321 team hitting percentage and holding Vassar to a .171 team percentage. Kristo Bianchin, Jeremy Brown, and Samuel Candland led the offense. Maxym Sutton contributed to the team's success at the service line in all four matches and notched a service ace versus Vassar. The Knights had four service aces and 25 digs for the match.
 
For the last match of the road trip, the Knights had their first ever match up with the St. John Fisher Cardinals. The Knights, once again, outperformed their opponent in every statistical category. While both teams displayed strong serving, Southern Virginia tallied seven service aces to Fisher's two. Libero, Justin Madsen did a remarkable job with serve-receive and tallied 11 digs for the match. Kyler Evans, Jeremy Brown, and Christian Sheaffer led the Knight's offense. Southern Virginia hit .288 and held the Cardinals to a .136 team hitting percentage.
 
Head Coach Tom Peterson remarked, "This was a great opportunity to play four Top-20 ranked teams outside our conference. Several of us were feeling under the weather. But we are fortunate to have depth in every position this season. Each of our players can contribute in more than one capacity. That is a huge advantage for us."
 
Following this weekend's matches, the Knights' win-streak improves to 18-0, with 3-0 sweeps of each opponent. Coach Peterson noted, "A record like this is rare and pretty special. We will work hard to keep it going."
 
This week the Knights will travel to Salem, VA to take on Roanoke College in a CVC conference match, Wednesday, March 6 at 7:00 pm. On Saturday, March 9, Southern Virginia will host Lancaster Bible College for a non-conference match in Knight Arena at 2:00 pm.