WC Indiana News

Pomeroys men's volleyball gets first win

The first of many, coach Ian Harris posted to social media, following Saint Mary-of-the-Woods' first men's volleyball victory Tuesday night against Wabash. 

The Pomeroys battled back from an opening set loss to win 3-1 against the Little Giants. 

"What was really awesome about it is four weeks ago, this team (Wabash) killed us in a scrimmage. They took five straight sets from us and we couldn't do anything to them. We wanted to see how much we've grown," Harris said. 

A pretty good amount based on the second, third and fourth sets. SMWC lost 25-16 in an ugly first set and then rallied from a 20-24 deficit in the second set.

"Simon (Vega) took the serve and was the calmest one in the gym," Harris said. 

SMWC evened the score at 24-24 and again 25-25 on a kill by Connor Orrock. Andrej Lindner served out the next two points for a 27-25 set win.

The Pomeroys rode that momentum into the next two sets. Julian Green, who had 11 kills, finished off the assist from Jacob Wisniewski to put SMWC ahead 5-2 early. Andrej Lindner, who had a team-best 13 kills, and Mark Zmojdzin, who added 12, had kills to help SMWC build a 10-8 lead in that third set.

Lindner had a kill for a 16-12 lead, and Yammiel Martinez got two of the next three kills for the Pomeroys to make it 19-16. Lindner and Green posted kills to break a 22-22 tie and Josh Stembridge finished off the third set with an ace.

The Pomeroys got some separation in the fourth set, opening up a 20-13 lead with a spurt that included two aces by Vega and kills from Lindner and Green.

Zmojdzin delivered a key kill for a 23-18 lead and the Pomeroys finished off the match on an attack error by Wabash. 

The balance from the SMWC attackers was what stood out. In addition to Lindner (13), Zmojdzin (12) and Green (11), Martinez added seven kills on 17 attacks. 

Lindner led the team with a .323 hitting percentage. 

"We finally got what we wanted. We've been too reliant on just Mark," Harris said. "The focus was just getting the second and third hitting options going to balance it out. (Assistant coach) Tia Madden did a great job working with the setters and coach Ashley (Harris) working with the hitters on little things. It definitely paid off." 

Wisniewski led the team with a season-high 21 assists, while Ethan Martins added seven and Connor Orrock five.

"Our setters did a great job running the offense tonight," Madden said, "and really making our hitters look good. Our hitters did a good job finishing those plays off." 

Madden was impressed by the Pomeroys' poise under pressure Tuesday night. 

"Our guys were able to really hold their composure and really support one another when things were hard. Our kids don't give up. We were down 20-24, they could have easily given up. We pulled that set out," Madden said. 

Original source can be found here.