SXU Stays Perfect, Claims Its Sixth Men's Volleyball Title In A Row
CHICAGO --- NAIA No. 2-ranked Saint Xavier University claimed its sixth straight Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Volleyball Tournament championship with a 25-17, 25-20, 25-17 victory over No. 2-seeded Olivet Nazarene University on Saturday afternoon at the Shannon Center. The Cougars paired that crown with their fifth straight regular-season title.
Saint Xavier (27-0) used a 200-plus point hitting advantage over the Tigers to gain the three-set win. The Cougars finished the day producing at a .298 clip to ONU's .068 mark with no Tiger registering more than six kills.
Caydann Cox and Oskar Krzyzak led the way for the champs with 16 and 10 kills, respectively. Cox also posted a .387 attack percentage, while Krzyzak scored a double-double with his 11 digs.
Cameron Daniels ran the offense to the tune of 35 assists.
Saint Xavier opened a 10-4 lead in the first set and Olivet Nazarene could never get any closer than four points the rest of that game to open up a one-set advantage.
The Tigers (15-13) did gain their first lead of the match in Set 2 with a 6-5 edge, but that was the only time as they could never get over the hump after SXU regained the advantage. ONU pulled to within one point nine different times, but could never tie the contest or regain the lead. Saint Xavier went on to score five of the final six points to claim the five-point win.
In Set 3, Olivet Nazarene produced both its biggest and latest lead of the afternoon. The Tigers were up 14-12 when Cox fueled an unanswered six-point run with four kills. It would just be the start to an overall 13-3 run to close out the set and the match for the Cougars.
With the title, Saint Xavier takes its perfect record into the 12-team NAIA National Tournament, which will be played April 29-May 3 at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Cougars find out their first opponent on Tuesday at 11 am when the NAIA national office announces the pairing for the event.
The complete tournament schedule and results follow:
Tuesday, April 15 - First Round
• Match #1: No. 5 Calumet St. Joseph def. No. 4 Judson 25-18, 25-22, 25-23
• Match #2: No. 6 Viterbo def. No. 3 St. Ambrose (14-15) 25-17, 26-24, 17-25, 22-25, 15-8
Thursday, April 17 - Semifinal Round (at site of highest remaining seed)
• Match #3: No. 2 Olivet Nazarene def. No. 6 Viterbo 25-21, 16-25, 22-25, 25-17, 15-4
• Match #4: No. 1 Saint Xavier def. No. 5 Calumet St. Joseph 25-14, 25-18, 25-10
Saturday, April 19 – Championship (at site of highest remaining seed)
• Match #5: No. 1 Saint Xavier def. No. 2 Olivet Nazarene 25-17, 25-20, 25-17