OOMS LEADS TIGERS TO TENTH WIN OF THE YEAR AT VITERBO

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Olivet Nazarene University men's volleyball team extended their winning streak to four games as they completed the comeback victory over Viterbo after training 2-1. Cade Ooms starred with a season-best five service aces to go with 16 points and 12 digs. Jaiton Kamaunu recorded a season-high 19.0 points and 18 kills to lead all players in the win.

Olivet started out hot storming to a 14-3 lead out of the gates. A service ace from Cade Ooms forced a Viterbo timeout with the Tigers leading 8-1. The combination of service from Jake Ostema and hitting from Kahaku Marquez led to five unanswered points for the Tigers. Marquez finished off the set with a kill as ONU jumped out to a 1-0 lead by the score of 25-12.

A tightly contested second set saw the two opponents tied 19 times and trade leads eight times. A VIT service error forced the set into extra rallies before the home team tied up the match after two consecutive kills to win the set 26-24.

Much like the second set, a close third set saw neither team lead by more than four points. Ooms' kill to increase their lead to 19-15 was the largest lead of the set by either team. Viterbo responded with a 4-0 run tying the score at 19-19. The V-Hawks took their first lead of the match converting their final two attacks for kills and a final set score of 25-22.

With the match on the line, ONU forced a fifth set by the score of 25-20 in the fourth. With the score tied at 7-7, Ooms' side-out kill sparked a 6-0 run behind Jame Ballance's service. Olivet did not look back maintaining a four-point lead at minimum for the rest of the set. Ooms' service ace for set-point sent the match to a deciding fifth set and a score of 25-20. The Tigers forced a fifth set for just the second time this year. ONU has not gone past a fourth set since winning 3-2 over Lancaster Bible on January 27.  

Ooms' fifth and final service ace of the day gave the Purple and Yellow-Gold the 13-11 advantage. The Tigers finished the day on a 4-1 run with a Kills from Ostema and an attacking error from Viterbo finishing the proceedings.

QUICK HITS

• The Tigers registered a season-high 11 service aces as a team.
• Tomas Gonzalez doled out a season-high 56 assists leading all players.
• Kamaunu, Marquez, Ooms, and Ostema all scored in double digits.
• Ballance and Ooms led the Tigers as they held the 57-45 advantage in digs.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Tigers will go back on the road to play at Calumet this Thursday, Feb. 23 in Whiting, Ind. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. CT. Please visit ONUtigers.com for all the live links to follow the action.

--ONU—

*Contact: Patrick Kaindl; Sports Information Graduate Assistant, email pkaindl@olivet.edu