ELGIN, Ill. (February 12, 2021) – The Webber International University men's volleyball team started off its new 2021 season with a pair of wins over Judson University and Lincoln College on Friday during the Judson Early Bird Invitational. The Warriors started off the tournament with a 3-1 (25-21, 13-25, 25-23, 25-14) win over the host school, Judson, on Friday morning before coming back in the late afternoon to win 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 31-29) over Lincoln.

It was the beginning of year number four for the Warriors as an official NAIA varsity men's volleyball program, and it is the first time in program history that Webber has begun a season with the same head coach as the year before as Carlos Jimenez embarks on his second year leading the team.

With Webber and Judson tied at 19-19 in the Warriors' very first set of the season, Webber took control on back-to-back kills by seniors Daniel Hermida and Zachary Ayala, followed by an assisted block from Ayala and freshman Peyten Young to make it 22-19. A kill by senior Chris Ludwig then made it 23-20, another kill by Ayala made it 24-21, and then an Eagles' attack error gave the Warriors the 1-0 set lead.

Ayala finished with five kills in the opening set while senior setter Justin Beecher started out with eight assists.

After a rough second set and facing a 12-7 deficit in the third set, Webber rallied to get back to within one at 21-20 on a kill by Ayala, tied it at 21-21 on a Judson attack error, and then went up at 22-21 on another assisted block by Young and Ayala.

Then with the score tied at 23-23 in the third set, Ayala came through with another huge kill, and was followed by a service ace from Young to give the Warriors the 2-1 set advantage.

In the fourth set, Webber led 4-0 and never looked back, leading 22-13 late in the set. As a team, the Warriors finished with a .522 attack percentage in the set while Ludwig finished with a very impressive nine kills in the set.

In all for Webber's first match of the season, Ayala had 13 kills, four blocks and four digs; Ludwig had 11 kills, a .524 attack percentage and six digs; and Beecher dished out 36 assists. Defensively, Beecher and freshman Daniel Suarez both led the Warriors with 11 digs, and fellow-freshman Kevin McCarthy finished with a match-high seven blocks while Young added five blocks.

In Webber's second match of the day against Lincoln, the Warriors hit .522 percent in the first set, just like they did in the final set against Judson.

Junior Luis Gustavo Silva and freshman Kai Desauguste both recorded four kills in the opening set against Lincoln while Beecher had 11 assists.

In the second set, it came down to the very end when an assisted block by Desauguste and McCarthy for the Warriors ended it, and then in the third set, Webber had to dig down deep to pull out a tightly-contested 31-29 victory. The Warriors trailed 29-28 in the final set before a kill by Hermida, followed by a kill from Young and then the final kill by Hermida kept it from going to a fourth set.

Silva led Webber with 10 kills in the final match of the day while senior Orlando Fletcher added eight kills, a .636 attack percentage, and also had seven digs. Beecher finished with 30 assists and six digs, and Young finished with a match-high six blocks.

Webber will return to the court tomorrow on Saturday, January 13, for three more matches in the Chicago-land area.