Tigerville – Men’s volleyball celebrated its seniors on Saturday night with a thrilling five-set victory over Limestone College.

The Basics

• Score: Crusaders – 3 / Saints – 2 (24 – 26 / 25 – 22 / 25 – 15 / 17 – 25 / 15 – 11)
• Records: North Greenville 12 – 15 (6 – 9) / Limestone 8 – 19 (5 – 11)
• Location: North Greenville University (Hayes Gymnasium)

How it Happened

• The Saints took set one despite North Greenville hitting almost .200 percentage points better than the saints.
• The Crusaders responded by taking the next two sets from Limestone to go up 2 – 1 in the set count.
• NGU never trailed in the second frame and led by as many as five when Matthew McManaway put away a kill to make it 16 – 11.
• The Crusaders went up 24 – 20 with a kill from Jackson Gilbert before another McManaway spike earned NGU the win.
• NGU jumped out to its biggest lead of the night with an eight-point edge at 21 – 13. The Saints added a pair of scores but McManaway tacked on a kill followed by a Limestone service error to put it away.
• The Saints forced a fifth set, using NGU’s worst offensive performance of the night to earn a fourth set victory. The Crusaders hit .684 in the third but stumbled in the fourth hitting just .160 while the Saints had their best of the night at .444.
• Limestone carried over the momentum into the opening points of the fifth taking a quick 4 – 2 lead. NGU evened it at four with the next two points before an error made it 5 – 4 in favor of the Saints.
• The Saints clinched the lead tightly until North Greenville gained control. The Crusaders capitalized on four consecutive opportunities with a pair of kills from Jackson Gilbert as well as a spike from Ben Hamsho and McManaway to take a 9 – 8 lead.
• The Crusaders would take a 13 – 10 lead late in the final set but the Saints tacked on one more point to inch closer at 13 – 11.
• The momentum would be short-lived though after a Kyle Brandt kill made it 14 – 11. The game ended on a Hamsho kill that put North Greenville over the top.

Inside the North Greenville Box Score

• Jackson Gilbert led the Crusaders with 15 – kills and a pair of assisted blocks.
• Matthew McManaway had 14 – kills but led all players in hitting percentage, swinging at a .522 clip. He also had three assisted blocks on defense.
• Aaron Campbell finished with 12 – kills while Brandt added 11. Jake Boldog dished out 48 – assists.
• Defensively, Dusting King had 13 – digs to lead all players.

Next Time Out

• The Crusaders wrap up the regular season with a 7 pm home game against Belmont Abbey College on April 11th.