BABSON PARK, Fla. (January 11, 2020) – The Webber International University men's volleyball team started off its new 2020 season with two four-set wins over NCAA Division-III teams on Saturday during the Webber Tri-Match. The Warriors defeated Ramapo College 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-20, 25-17) in the first match of the day before coming back in the late afternoon to beat Alvernia University also by a score of 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-16).

Webber wrapped up the tri-match 2-0 to start its new season while Ramapo finished up its season-opening weekend in Florida 1-2 with a 3-1 win over Warner on Friday, January 10. Alvernia finished 1-1 at the tri-match with an exciting 3-2 (25-15, 25-19, 21-25, 15-25, 18-16) five-set victory over Ramapo in the second match of the day.

It was the beginning of year number three for the Warriors as an official NAIA varsity men's volleyball program and is the first for Webber under its fourth head coach in four seasons, Carlos Jimenez. It was also the second time in three seasons that Webber started its year 2-0 with two wins on the opening day of the season.

In the season-opener against Ramapo, newcomer Daniel Hermida, a transfer junior from NCAA Division-II Lincoln Memorial University, made his presence felt immediately by recording a match-high 20 kills and a .316 attack percentage while also adding six digs and a match-high five service aces.

It was Hermida who helped propel the Warriors to the win in set number one as he recorded three services aces during a big 6-0 Webber run to put the Warriors ahead 16-13 before recording his third kill of the opening set to tie the match at 23-23. From there, two Ramapo attack errors ended the opening set in Webber's favor 25-23.

After Webber dropped the second set against Ramapo by only hitting .040 percent and allowing the Roadrunners to hit .300 percent, the Warriors cranked it up in sets three and four by hitting .321 percent and .421 percent, respectively, while Ramapo hit only .067 percent in the third set and -.043 percent in the fourth.

During set number three, Christian Alvarez-Rivero was the man serving during a 5-0 Webber run that put the Warriors ahead 18-17 before Tim Rouch Jr. served during another 5-0 run that gave Webber the 2-1 set advantage. Hermida recorded back-to-back kills to first break the 20-20 tie before Zachary Ayala finished off the third set with his sixth kill of the match to that point.

During the fourth and final set, it was Hermida who again stood out as he started a 6-1 run to end the match with his final kill of the match before ending it with another service ace. In all, it was a 10-3 run to close out the final set for the home team after only leading by one at 15-14.

Behind Hermida in kills but still with very solid performances for the season opener was Ayala with eight kills on an incredible .533 attack percentage, followed by Orlando Fletcher with five kills on a attack percentage of .273.

Dishing out the passes to Hermida and the rest of the Warriors' hitters were senior Kyle Robertson (17 assists) and junior Rouch Jr. (15 assists) as both players recorded double-digit assists.

Defensively, Alvarez-Rivero led the way with a team-best 10 digs while Ayala had seven, and Justin Beecher and Robertson both added three blocks as well.

After accumulating seven blocks as a team in the first match against Ramapo, the Warriors finished the match against Alvernia with a very impressive 11 blocks. Freshman Bryant Herrera finished with six blocks and was followed by Beecher with five and Ayala with four.

Also against Alvernia, Hermida nearly recorded a double-double with 13 kills and eight digs, a match-high in both categories. Ayala also reached double digits in kills with 10 and had four digs while Alvarez-Rivero had six digs and four service aces. Fletcher and Herrera were the other two Warriors to reach five kills against the Golden Wolves as Herrera put together an effective .444 attack percentage.

In the assists category, Rouch Jr. led the way with 18 and was followed by Robertson with 13 as again by players reached double-digit helpers.

After dropping a very close opening set against Alvernia with an attack percentage of only .080 percent, the Warriors improved that percentage in each of the three remaining sets by hitting .172 percent, .231 percent and .278 percent respectively and holding the Golden Wolves to only .018 percent hitting for the match.

Webber led 7-0 in set number two with Rouch jr. serving and the Golden Wolves making six attack errors. The Warriors then led 14-5, 22-15 and 23-17 before Alvernia closed to within two at 23-21. Fortunately, Hermida came up with a big kill to give the Warriors match point, and then Webber tied it up at one set apiece two points later on the 10th Alvernia attack error of the set.

In the third set, Webber broke a 11-11 tie with a 7-1 run to lead it 18-12 and take control of the set; and then in the final set, the Warriors turned a 10-9 lead into a 19-11 advantage with a 9-2 run.

The Warriors will now have a long wait until their next two matches on the first two days of February. The two matches will also be the first two road appearances of the season for Webber as the Warriors battle NCAA Division-II Erskine College at 7 p.m. on Saturday, February 1, in Due West, South Carolina, before coming back the next day on Sunday, February 2, in Laurinburg, North Carolina, to start Mid-South Conference play against No. 9 St. Andrews University at 1 p.m.