PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – The OUAZ men's volleyball team took the first two steps towards winning the 2019 NCCAA Men's Volleyball National Invitational by recording a pair of sweeps during Friday's pool play matches at Trinity Christian College.
 
Top-seeded OUAZ (3-1) began the day with a dominating 25-6, 25-16, 25-11 win over No. 8-seed Brewton-Parker. The Spirit ended the opening match with a 36-17 advantage in kills while hitting .476 and holding the Barons to negative-.085.
 
OUAZ added a 10-1 advantage in service aces while posting nine blocks and 26 digs.
 
It was a balanced offensive attack as 10 different players recorded multiple kills in the win. Brandon Davis led the group with five kills during his one set on the floor. He hit .714 with a pair of aces and three digs.
 
James Yahner finished among a group of five players that finished with four kills. He added a team-best four aces and four blocks.
 
The second match of the day was again controlled by the Spirit as they claimed a 25-19, 25-9, 25-20 win over No. 5-seed Judson. That match saw the Spirit to a 29-22 advantage kills while hitting .299. They held the Eagles to .041 hitting.
 
In the second sweep of the day, OUAZ added another five service aces along with five blocks and 28 digs.
 
Jacob Vander Beek led the team in the win with eight kills on .318 hitting. Yahner and Quentin Campbell added seven kills apiece with Yahner recording another two aces and three blocks. Bryan Ilena had five kills on .833 hitting.
 
Andrew de'Leon distributed 17 assists in the Judson match after posting 16 in the opener. Joaquin Santa Cruz tallied 13 digs in the two matches.
 
OUAZ ends the day tied atop the Pool A standings with Greenville. The team will play at 8 a.m. MST on Saturday with the winner advancing to the Invitational Championship match and the loser moving to the third-place match. Both of those matches will be played at 2 p.m. MST.