Mesa, Ariz.—The OUAZ men's volleyball team drops their first game in almost a month in a 5-set gritty matchup against Benedictine Mesa (19-25, 25-23, 14-25, 25-22, 15-17). The loss puts the Spirit at (16-4) overall and (9-2) in the GSAC.

Graduate Senior Caeden Salmen led the team with an impressive 16 kills, hitting .235. The Anthem native displayed some resilience for the team, becoming the spark plug in moments of struggle. Horatio Maumasi continues his dominating Junior year with 7 kills, while Jackson Blair played phenomenally as well with 8 kills. The freshman had some incredible high IQ plays and a great stuff block to push the Spirit with some great momentum. With starting libero Bodhi Bettes battling an illness tonight and Kody Castellon fighting a groin injury, AJ Scott took over the libero duties. The Arizona Christian transfer shined in his first start of the year. Scott not only dominated from the serve-receive side but also showed great grit with some some tough defensive pickups.

One of the best offenses in the NAIA had a sluggish start in set 1 but still found ways to make it close. The Redhawk block consistently read Spirit hitters, but the team found ways to overcome it. Down early, the Spirit made several short bursts throughout the set but struggled to find consistency to make any deep run. In set 2, the Spirit powered through the most adversity they had faced all year and pulled the rug out from under the Redhawks. After falling behind 19-10 late in the set, Horatio Maumasi salvaged some points by going on an impressive 5-0 scoring run. In this run, Maumasi not only tallied three aces but also consistently got Redhawk hitters out of the system with his well-known serve that drops quickly after it passes the net. After some great BenU hitting, the team saw themselves down once again, 23-20. However, that lead wouldn't last for long after the team scored five unanswered. Following a Redhawk timeout at 23-22, Coach Afusia pushed OUAZ hitters to attack the Redhawk block in crafty ways, and freshman Jackson Blair did just that. The Surprise native swiped and abused the block to score two clutch points, giving the Spirit a set point and eventually winning the set after a Redhawk-hitting error. Set 3 proved challenging for OUAZ, as the Redhawk offense established a clear rhythm. The team saw themselves down early and were never able to crawl back. However, in Set 4, the Spirit experienced a significant momentum shift after executing some strategic plays. In that set alone, the Spirit pushed the Redhawks into a .028 hitting percentage. Horatio Maumasi and Owen Draeger both showcased exceptional middle play during the set. Draeger, off the bench, detonated a ball on the 10-foot line on an open net swing, then had one of the best plays of the game, stuffing a Redhawk in the middle and transitioning for a cross-court kill. After a set 4 victory, set 5 was wire-to-wire. Neither team truly allowed the other to go on a run. The back-and-forth play caused no lead to be bigger than two. The Spirit had some amazing play by Caeden Salmen yet again, who was on fire the entire set, punishing the BenU block with his powerful swing. The Redhawk offense unfortunately pulled through late in the set to top the Spirit 17-15 in a heartbreaker.

Your OUAZ Spirit continue GSAC action this week against Arizona foe Park-Gilbert at 6pm inside Faith Arena on Thursday, April 2nd.