WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 16) – The Jacket men began their day on Saturday with impressive play but fell short in two matches against Penn-Ohio Volleyball league foes Geneva College and Carnegie Mellon University, bringing their overall record to 1-6 this season.

The squad was able to battle evenly through five sets of play in two matches but youth and injury took its toll.

The Jackets began their day with an impressive (25-21) win in the first set of match one against Geneva. The Yellow Jackets played evenly through set two before taking the lead late making the score 22-20.

Geneva slipped in a victory after three service aces and a side out, winning 25-23.

The third and deciding set was a rollercoaster of points and the Jackets found themselves on the short end of a 13-10 score after two timeouts. Starting middle hitter Joel Wingard went down with an ankle injury and the Jackets would only be able to muster one more point losing the deciding set 11-15.

“It's a tough loss. The match belonged to us early and we panicked," Head coach James Patterson said. "I can't stress how important it is to maintain attitude and focus no matter how much better we think we are and could be.  Attitude dictates everything on that court."

The Jackets struggled through much of the same during the Carnegie Mellon match with injury and inexperience. With Wingard out for the remainder of the day, senior middle Brad Davis took over his duties. 

“Brad did fine, I think he felt as though he didn't perform well but he did what we needed him to do.  It's a team effort out there.” explained Patterson.

The men's team would put up early points playing solid through a 10-12 score before losing five straight points to serve receive errors and lost side out opportunities. The first set would end with a 14-25 decision.

The second set was a glimpse at what could be and has been for the jackets as they rallied around freshman Clayton Reiber as he took over for sophomore Jake Buss at setter.

The Jackets traded points with CMU to a 10-13 score before the Jackets called a timeout.  Following the break, the Jackets would side out before losing three straight points bringing the score to 11-16.  The men would not go quietly, however, as they rallied back late before losing the set and ultimately the match 18-25. 

“We saw a lot of improvement in set two. The attitude and the focus came on, but we can't quite keep it on," Patterson said. "The squad has the talent and they have the athleticism, we just need to learn to use it to our advantage. These were two very beatable teams. I can only think that sometime soon the fire will light and there wont be any stopping us.”

The Jackets will have a week to rest and fine tune their game before returning to action on February 21 at home in the Annual Alumni Challenge Match. The match will feature the first-ever trophy presentation along with alumni announcements and presentations and a dinner to follow the five-set match. Action will begin in the Rudy Marisa Field House at 11 a.m. 

For further information, contact James Patterson at jpatters@waynesburg.edu or by phone at 724-852-3346.