ELGIN, Ill. (February 14, 2021) – The Webber International University men's volleyball team finished off the Judson Early Bird Invitational with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-13) loss against No. 14 nationally-ranked Goshen College (Ind.) followed by a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-20) loss against Mount Mercy University, and then the Warriors traveled to nearby nationally-recognized Trinity Christian College (Ill.), where they fell by a score of 3-2 (25-22, 17-25, 25-19, 23-25, 19-17).

Against Goshen, Webber led by scores of 6-2, 10-6, 14-10 and 17-14 in the first set before a 6-0 run for the Maple Leafs. Webber did cut the Maple Leafs' lead down to one at 23-22 in the first set after a kill by Chris Ludwig and a Goshen attack error before two kills by the Maple Leafs ended it.

The Warriors hit only .014 percent for the entire match after hitting .000 percent in both the first and final sets, and they also had nearly has many errors (21) as they did kills (22). Ludwig had nine kills and Justin Beecher had 15 assists.

Against Mount Mercy, Zachary Ayala had 10 kills, Beecher had 28 assists, and Daniel Suarez had five digs.

In the final match against Trinity Christian, Webber trailed 8-4 in the deciding fifth set and then trailed 11-8 before a 4-0 Warrior run on four attack errors by the Trolls gave Webber a late 12-11 lead.

Then, with Webber down 15-14, a kill by Peyten Young followed by an ace by Daniel Hermida gave Webber match point, but a kill for the Trolls followed by a Webber attack error kept the match going before two final kills by Trinity Christian.

In that final match, Ludwig had 11 kills, Beecher had 37 assists and nine digs, and Kevin McCarthy had six blocks.

Next up for Webber will be the start of Mid-South Conference play as the Warriors play on the road at No. 13 Life University on Thursday, February 18, and then play at Reinhardt University on Saturday, February 20. Webber will still not host its first home match of the season until March 4 against Truett McConnell University.