Pride bookend set wins to earn 3-2 win over Augustana

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Closing out their first home weekend in over three weeks, the Clarke University men's volleyball team earned their second-straight win on their home floor in a five-set win over Augustana College in the Kehl Center on Saturday afternoon.

After taking the first set 25-21, the Pride would drop sets two and three by identical 25-18 scores, forcing CU to earn a fourth set win to stay alive in the match as they would pull out a 26-24 win the fourth before closing out the match 15-10 for the 3-2 win.

The seemingly deciding fourth set never saw either side lead the set by more than two points as the Vikings were able to produce a mini comeback late from down 23-21 to tie the score at 23 before trading points to 24-24 as a bad set then Eduardo Hernandez kill would give Clarke back-to-back points for the set win.

The Pride would be able to produce a four-point lead early in the fifth set with Anthony Ramirez and Justin Hernandez kills then another bad set from AC put Clarke up 7-3 then another Justin Hernandez kill before he teamed with Zachary Barr for a block made it 12-7 then the two teams would produce matching 3-0 runs with the match closing on Justin Hernandez's match leading 18th kill of the day.

Both Justin and Eduardo Hernandez had double-doubles on the day with both finishing at 10 digs while Eduardo Hernandez producing 15 kills while Ramirez being the third member of the Pride in double figures as he had 11 kills on 24 attempts and only three errors for a team-high .333 hitting percentage.

CU setter Benjamin Reiser set or tied career-highs, first with 47 assists in the five-set affair while also ending the match with four solo blocks, tying his previous best that was just set last week against Graceland in another 3-2 Clarke win.

Augustana also had three players finish in double figures with kills led by a 16-kill, five block performance from Cole Clarke while Zach Moreano and Ryan Huntington both had matching 12-kill days for the Vikings.

Clarke men's volleyball will be back on their home floor for their Senior Day weekend next Friday and Saturday, Mar. 28-29 starting with a Friday night match against Dordt University at 7:00 p.m. CT before their Senior Day match against Morningside University on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. CT first serve.