HIRAM, Ohio – February 11, 2025 – Hiram's Jackson Deubner became the fifth player in program history to reach 500+ career kills on Tuesday evening at Price Gymnasium, as the senior needed just three kills to reach the milestone in what shaped out to be a three-set loss to Mount Union in the team's home opener: 25-20, 25-16, 25-17.

Deubner finished the match with seven kills, giving him 504 career kills for his three-year career that includes 226 sets of action. He joined Tom Supan, Kilvio Montero, Dangelo Boehner and his teammate Kyle Martini as the only student-athletes in program history to reach the landmark total.

Hiram played much better than the final score would indicate, with the team holding a 17-15 lead in the first set, a 9-6 lead in the second set and tying the score at 16-16 in the third set. Derek Chiang made his Price Gymnasium debut and recorded a team-high 11 kills, while Matthew Albano totaled 26 assists on the team's 31 kills for the match. Garrett Scheidegger also had three blocks on the defensive end to provide a spark in front of an energized home crowd.

The Purple Raiders ultimately prevailed in each of those three sets, with Michael Bowler having 17 kills and five other opposing players having at least three kills apiece. Libero Peyton Koszelak was also key in limiting Hiram's hitting percentage to .159, as he totaled a match-high 12 digs.

Despite the loss, Hiram still had something to celebrate with Deubner reaching 500 kills and the team staying competitive against an opponent that had beaten the No. 3 team in the country (California Lutheran) earlier in the season.

Hiram will stay home and next host Penn State Behrend on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. inside Price Gymnasium in Hiram, Ohio. Members of the 2024 Hiram men's volleyball team will be awarded their AMCC Championship rings prior to the start of the match.