Eutectics earn riveting sweep on night #1

(Photo courtesy of Makenzie Ness)

ST. LOUIS, MO - If all the nights are going to be like this, it is going to be some kind of season for the UHSP Eutectics men's volleyball squad! It was the opening night to the season as the Eutectics played as one of the two host sites to the inaugural Heart of America Challenge, and even that paired teams in the Heart of America Athletic Conference with four other teams in neighboring conferences. The Eutectics closed out the evening with a straight set win over Central Christian (KS), 25-12, 25-7, 25-11 but it was the lead match that gave the Eutectics all the momentum for the night with a thrilling come-from-behind 23-25, 24-26, 25-18, 27-25, 15-10 win over Kansas Wesleyan.

The night began with UHSP Head Coach Chris Frankenfield sending out three freshmen in his opening night starting lineup. After a pair of early tight sets, but the Coyotes were up two sets to none with a chance to make short work of UHSP. In the third, the match featured six ties in the opening 20 points, lastly at 10-10. UHSP went on a 6-0 run thanks to five straight service points from Cole Cwiklowski. Kansas Wesleyan never got closer than five the rest of the way as the two teams traded points for the duration of the set with the exception of one juncture where the home club won back-to-back points as UHSP closed out a 25-18 third set win. It would be the fourth set though that was the set of the night. The Eutectics fell behind 6-0 resulting into a Coach Frankenfield timeout. The Purple and Gold stabilized enough to close the gap to 9-7 thanks in part to a service run of four points from Dickson Colado and a pair of kills and a block from Marcus Parker. The Coyotes responded with an apparent game sealing 10-5 spurt to put the Eutectics on the brink, with KWU leading 19-12 and UHSP taking their final timeout. But that is when USHP relied on well, everyone to turn the USHP Gym on opening night into a electric atmosphere. Dickson Colado went on an incredible eight point service run as the Eutectics used five Coyote hitting errors, kills from Cole Cwiklowski, three from Grant Hoover and three total blocks from Marcus Parker and Hoover that led to the Eutectics eventually taking a 21-19 lead. Kansas Wesleyan's Zayin Martinez had a block and a kill to force ties at 24-24 and 25-25, but Cole Cwiklowski set up Dickson Colado for a kill to give UHSP set point at 26-25 and Cooper Hansen closed it out with an ace to seal the improbable Eutectic comeback run. Fueled by the rally in the fourth, UHSP went up 10-3 in the fifth thanks to another long Colado service run. It would be Grant Hoover earning the match sealing point with a kill as the Eutectic won their season opener for the first time in the brief five year history of the program.

Given they had never posted a win in match number one of the season, getting off to a 2-0 start was definitely out of the question. So the Eutectics are certainly now in new territory after steamrolling through Central Christian in match two. It was Colado again behind the service line that turned a 4-4 opening set into a 13-4 UHSP lead. In the second set, Colado again was at the center of the deciding portion of the set as UHSP already led 10-5 before the freshman made it 19-5. Marcus Parker, RJ Dilks III and Cooper Hansen led the charge behind the service line in the third set as the Eutectics were never challenged and buried the Tigers in straight sets.

UHSP had hitting percentages of .360 and .525 in the respective matches, totaling .409 for the night. The home club delivered with 22 service aces on opening night with Colado providing half of those. Grant Hoover led the way with 25 kills on the night and added 14 digs. Fellow freshman Xavier Gamayo also notched 14 digs. Veteran Cole Cwiklowski racked up 65 assists over the two matches, 47 of which came in the win over Kansas Wesleyan. The Eutectics totaled 15 blocks as a team on the evening.

The Eutectics will play another pair of contests on day two of the tournament on Saturday as they face St. Ambrose (1-1) at 2:00pm and Calument College of St. Joseph (1-1) at 4:00pm.