PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – The OUAZ men's volleyball team opened defense of the NCCAA National Championship by picking up a pair of wins on the first day of the 2020 Tournament on Friday. The top-seeded Spirit swept Maranatha Baptist to start the day and then defeated Trinity Christian in four sets.
 
With the two victories, OUAZ setup a de facto semifinal match against Warner in the final pool play match on Saturday at 10 a.m. (AZ). Both the Spirit and Royals finished day one with 2-0 records.
 
In Friday's first match, the Spirit had little problems taking down the No. 8 seed in Maranatha Baptist by scores of 25-17, 25-13, 25-20. OUAZ had a 38-14 edge in kills and they hit .297 while holding the Sabercats to negative-.032.
 
OUAZ had 13 different players record at least one kill in the win with Conner Duyck leading the way with seven. Ian Fields had 22 assists, five digs, and a pair of aces.
 
The evening match saw the Spirit drop a set at the NCCAAs for the first time as they defeated No. 5 seed – and tournament host – Trinity Christian 25-23, 25-18, 20-25, 25-16.
 
The Spirit needed a season-high 53 kills to earn the win. They also held a 6-2 edge in service aces while getting 42 digs and five blocks.
 
Quaid King led the way with 18 kills on .364 hitting. Blake Music hit .421 with 10 kills. Quentin Campbell added seven kills and five aces – tied for the second-most in a match in program history – and eight digs.
 
After facing Warner on Friday morning, the Spirit will play a bracket match at 2 p.m. (AZ) in either the title match or the third-place match.