SURPRISE, Ariz. – The OUAZ men's volleyball team picked up an important home win and avenged an earlier loss to Menlo by claiming a 3-1 win over the Oaks on Saturday afternoon at Willow Canyon High School.
 
In a match the featured 23 ties and eight lead changes through the first three sets before OUAZ (7-6, 2-4 GSAC) pulled away in the fourth for the 25-20, 18-25, 25-21, 25-15 Golden State Athletic Conference victory.
 
Jacob Smith led the way for the Spirit with a career high 20 kills to set the school record for a four-set match. He hit .289 overall in notching his first double-digit kill match of the season. Smith also recorded six digs, two service aces, and one block.
 
OUAZ finished with 50 kills as a team for the second-highest output this season. They hit .226 for the match, including .368 in set one and .300 in set four.  The Spirit had a 6-3 edge in service aces and used 53 digs and four blocks to hold the Oaks to 42 kills and .186 hitting.
 
James Yahner added 12 kills and 14 digs while hitting .360 to help OUAZ. Andrew de'Leon distributed 38 assists with 11 digs. Brandon Davis led the team with three aces.
 
Menlo got 11 kills apiece from Akash Dhothar and Edin Ibrahimovic.
 
The Spirit will now travel to California where they will play four matches next week. That begins on Thursday at Saint Katherine at 1:30 p.m. MST in the San Marcos Gymnasium.