Springfield, OH - The Southern Virginia University men's volleyball team quickly shook off any rust that may have come with the new season, making quick work of Edgewood College for a sweep in their opening match of the Jim Coleman Memorial Invitational.

After tallying the match's first point, the Knights endured a hard-fought, back-and-forth first set. After falling behind by two a couple of times, Jeremy Brown made an impressive kick save while falling backward, leading to a Southern Virginia point and a much-needed boost. The Knights rattled off fourteen of the final 18 points to clinch a first-set victory.

In the second set, they played very much like the top-ranked team in the country, converting on most of their attacks, and were led by Christian Sheaffer. After allowing the first point, they answered with two points of their own and never relinquished the lead to put themselves on the verge of their first victory of the season. Newcomer Jason Wang was efficient in his debut, finishing with a hitting percentage of .455 and two blocks.

Edgewood battled back in the third to make it interesting, tying the score at 19-19. However, the Knights took care of business in the end as the winning point flew off the hand of Jayton Hall. 

Gehrig Tolman and Maxym Sutton split time at the setter position, filling in nicely in the absence of Tyler Sheaffer, who graduated as a First-Team All-American. Tolman led the team with 15 assists, while Christian Sheaffer led with 13 kills. Samuel Candland was also noticeable throughout, sending several booming attacks to the floor. He finished with six kills and a .600 hitting percentage.

The Knights will quickly refocus for two matches tomorrow. They'll face No. 11 Loras at noon, followed by a matchup with the tournament host, Wittenberg, at 2:30 PM. For the most up-to-date details and information on the team, visit knightathletics.com and follow @knightmvolleyball on Instagram.