ALLIANCE, Ohio – March 9, 2022 – Hiram men's volleyball was defeated by Mount Union on Wednesday night in non-conference action by a score of 3-1.

After a kill from Mount Union's Mark Burns, the home team jumped out to a 7-2 lead at the start of the match. A few points later, Hiram stormed back ripping off five-straight points nearly tying the game down 11-10.

The Purple Raiders took a 14-10 lead, but the biggest stretch of the first set was scored by the Terriers, claiming eight of the next nine points capped off by a Kilvio Montero kill made the score 18-15. UMU fought back to make it 19-18 Hiram, but the visitors pulled away and won set one, 25-21 after a Dangelo Boehner kill.

UMU started set two hot, getting out to a 9-4 lead. The lead continued to grow as the set progressed, going up 14-7 as the middle of the set came about. As the end of the second set got closer, the Purple Raiders blew it open going up 21-10. Mount Union held on for the 25-13 second set win.

Despite going down 5-0 at the start of the third set, Hiram fought back and tied it at 6-6 with a stretch that saw two Kilvio Montero kills. In the middle portion of the set, UMU started to break away going up 15-10. Hiram quickly responded, getting the next five points after a Nathan Cassell service ace.

Down the stretch of the set, two errors from Mount Union led to the game getting tied at 19. After briefly trading points, the Purple Raiders picked up four of the final five points winning the fourth set, 25-22.  

Tom Supan had both a kill and service ace that tied the fourth set at seven. After that, Mount Union scored four of five, now up 12-8. The Purple Raiders pulled away and went on a massive run in the middle of the set, getting out to a 19-9 lead. The dominance continued for the home team, with UMU winning the fourth set, 25-12 picking up the match victory.

Supan nearly had a double-double, picking up nine kills and seven digs. Montero added eight kills of his own for the second-most on the team. Cassell and Andrew Diaz de Padilla each had a team-high nine digs. Diaz de Padilla also led the team with 19 assists.

With the loss, Hiram falls to 11-8 on the season and 3-4 in road matches.

Hiram continues with road non-conference play in their next match. The team plays at Juniata on Saturday, March 12 with playing two matches with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m.