The Misericordia men's volleyball team dropped two matches in straight sets to Fontbonne and Hunter, Thursday afternoon at the Anderson Center.
The Cougars fall to 13-16 with just one match remaining in the regular season.
Against Fontbonne, Ryan Miller led the team with 10 kills and Caleb Bauder contributed with six of his own. Bailey Brugler tallied 26 assists while Michael Mohutsky led the team with eight digs. Michael Trygar and Matt Lavin each had two blocks.
The Griffins scored the first three points of the match, but Misericordia did not let the set get away from them as they did not trail by more than four before tying the match at 10 on kill by Bauder.
Fontbonne created separation by going on a 3-0 run to go up 18-14, but the Cougars answered by winning six of the next 10 points to get back within two at 22-20. However, that was as close as they would get as the Griffins took the first set, 25-22.
The second set was dominated by the Griffins from start to finish as they took an early 5-0 lead and never looked back, taking the set 25-11.
The Cougars faced another early hole in set three, but a kill by Miller got cut their deficit to one at 14-13. However, a 7-1 run by Fontbonne secured the win as they took the set, 25-16, and the match.
Miller led the Cougars against Hunter as well, tallying 10 kills, while Bauder contributed with eight. Brugler collected 22 assists and Mohutsky had a career-high 16 digs in just three sets.
The Cougars scored the first two points of the match as they got kills from Lavin and Bauder. Hunter answered to take a 10-8 lead before three straight points on two errors by the Hawks and a kill by Bauder gave Misericordia an 11-10 lead. Down 15-14, Hunter went on a 6-0 run to take control of the set and a 3-0 run to end the set and win 25-19.
Neither team could pull away early in the second set as after 20 points, the score was tied at 10. The Cougars attempted to separate, going on a 5-2 run with two kills from Miller and one from Lavin to take a 15-12 lead. However, MU could not hold the lead as Hunter followed with a 6-1 run. The Hawks won the second set the same as the first, ending it on a 3-0 run to win 25-19.
In the third set, Hunter jumped out to an 8-3 lead. Misericordia responded to get back to within four at 10-6, but the Hawks went on a 7-0 run to take control of the set and cruise to a 25-9 victory.
The Cougars will close out the regular season with a match at home against Messiah, April 7.
