LEBANON, Tenn. (March 9, 2019) – The 2019 Webber International University men's volleyball team competed in three more Mid-South Conference matches at the Cumberland University Quad Match in Lebanon, Tennessee. The Warriors started the weekend on Friday, March 8, by coming away with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-15) win over Midway University before dropping a very tight five-set match in the night cap against Campbellsville University, 3-2 (21-25, 30-28, 23-25, 25-18, 15-10). Webber then finished off the tournament with a 3-1 (25-15, 28-26, 17-25, 27-25) loss against the host school Cumberland on Saturday, March 9.

After the weekend, the Warriors' record now stands at 5-8 overall and 4-5 in the Mid-South Conference with four more regular-season matches in the conference to go in their first season under their new head coach Eric Praetorius.

"We had a good first day," said Praetorius. "We served great and played the net really well. We went 5-3 in eight sets and played fast. We fell apart on day two and had some injuries that cost us."

In the win over Midway, Webber hit .444 percent as a team in the second set, .421 percent in the third set and .348 percent overall compared to a percentage of -.129 percent overall for the Eagles. Luke Taffer led the way with eight kills, Liam Gilchrist and Christian Alvarez-Rivero both recorded three blocks, Tim Rouch Jr. recorded 16 assists and Steven Bartlett had nine digs.

Against Campbellsville, Webber won the third set thanks in large part to hitting .360 percent as a team, but that script flipped in the fourth set as the Warriors hit -.077 percent. Then, in the fifth and final set, the Warriors allowed Campbellsville to hit a staggering .733 percent to win it. Tied 8-8 in the fifth set, it was a 6-1 run for the Tigers featuring four kills by Rafael Cruz that gave Campbellsville the advantage.

Taffer again led the Warriors in kills against the Tigers, recording 15 while being followed by Gilchrist with 10 and Zachary Ayala with eight. Ayala also recorded three blocks while Pedro Lepever had six blocks, and Gilchrist also had nine digs while Bartlett led the way with 12. Additionally, the Warriors had two players combine for 41 assists as Justin Beecher finished with 21 helpers while Rouch Jr. finished with 20.

During the Warriors' last match of the weekend against the host school Cumberland, Webber hit .453 percent in the second set but still came up short after gaining set point at 24-23. The Warriors then led 23-20 in the fourth set after an 8-2 run ending with back-to-back kills by Taffer, but could not hold on as the Phoenix took the next four points to re-take the lead and went on to win it 27-25 to dash the Warriors' hopes.

Taffer finished with 16 kills against Cumberland while Lepever added four more blocks to his total and Gabe Segarra recorded 22 assists in his first time playing setter. Rouch Jr. recorded 16 assists for his third straight match with 16 or more helpers over the weekend.

Next up, Webber will host Life University at 7 p.m. in one week on Saturday, March 16, inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center.