The Misericordia University men's volleyball team captured their fourth straight contest with wins against Elizabethtown, 3-0, and Trine, 3-1, to open day one of the Cougar Kickoff Classic, Friday at the Anderson Center.

Brian Ross led the Cougars with a combined 23 kills and a .370 hitting percentage on the night. An outside hitter, Ross collected a game-high 12 kills against Elizabethtown and 11 kills against Trine. The junior newcomer has been a key component of the Cougars' attack and currently ranks second on the squad in kills (60).

Ryan Miller and Caleb Bauder also played key roles in Misericordia's success tonight. The two sophomores both recorded 20 kills with .375 and .471 hitting percentages, respectively.

Jordan Spidle collected 61 assists to boost his season total to a team-leading 172 while Connor Westerfield was the team's leader in digs with 19 on the night.

In its opening match, Misericordia swept Elizabethtown with 25-19, 25-19 and 25-21 set victories.

The Cougars started the night hot with a dominant first set against the Blue Jays. Misericordia opened the contest with an 11-4 run, which featured a rally of six unanswered points.

The Jays attempted to claw back into the game with an ensuing 9-4 run, but the Cougars put their foot on the gas with three unanswered points to distance themselves from Elizabethtown.

Elizabethtown jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage and ended up leading by as many as three points with a 13-10 score. However, the Cougars quickly answered back with five unanswered points to pull ahead 15-13. The squad ended the second stanza on a 15-6 swing.

The final set was closely contested throughout, but Misericordia was able to gain some breathing room with a 3-0 rally towards the end of the set to give the squad a 19-15 advantage.

In tonight's finale, Misericordia defeated Trine in four sets (25-18, 25-22, 26-24 and 25-20) with its only loss coming in the third game.

Misericordia won the opening set comfortably and never trailed. Midway through the set, Dylan Sellitti gave the team momentum with a service ace to take a five point advantage – their largest lead at the time.

The second set was very similar to the latter stanza. Trine was able to keep things close early, but fell victim to another Cougar run (7-2) midway through the set.

Trine forced a fourth set with a 7-3 run to close out the third stanza. However, the Cougars were able to cruise to victory in the closing set with a 10-3 run, which gave them a 19-14 advantage. The rally was aided by five Thunder attack errors and capped-off by a Miller service ace.

The Cougars improved to 4-2 overall on the season. Misericordia will close out the Cougar Kickoff Classic with games against Mount Union and Randolph-Macon, tomorrow at 11:00 and 3:00.