Governors State men’s volleyball closed out a four-match week with three dominant sweeps after absorbing a road loss to the conference’s top team, pushing their record to 16-10 overall and 10-2 in conference play with the postseason fast approaching.
The week opened Thursday at Saint Xavier, a team that entered the match 22-3 and a perfect 11-0 in conference, and the Jaguars couldn’t find their footing all night in a 0-3 loss (20-25, 21-25, 16-25). GovState hit just .039 as a team, with Pablo Pascual‘s 12 kills and 14.0 points standing as the lone offensive bright spot. Daniel Lopez and Diego Antunez both struggled to generate rhythm against a Saint Xavier squad that imposed its will from start to finish. It was the kind of loss that can sting, but the response the following night was telling.
Back home Friday against Viterbo, the Jaguars were a completely different team, rolling to a 3-0 sweep (25-21, 25-19, 25-14) while hitting a scorching .420 as a team. Pascual led the way with 14 kills on a .458 hitting percentage for 17.0 points, while Lopez added 10 kills at .471 and Antunez chipped in 8 kills at .333 for 9.0 points. Lucas Lapa ran the offense flawlessly with 36 assists, going a perfect 1.000 on his own attempts. Thiago Neves and Pedro Oliveira made their presence felt at the net as well, with Neves recording two solo blocks and two block assists and Oliveira posting three solo blocks in just one set off the bench.
Monday’s home match against winless Calumet (IN) was more of the same, with GovState sweeping 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-12) behind an eye-popping .492 team hitting percentage. Pascual again led with 10 kills at .500 and two aces for 12.0 points, while Lopez was nearly perfect with 8 kills on 13 attempts for a .615 clip. Antunez added 7 kills at .500, Ean Schultz went error-free with 3 kills, two solo blocks, and two block assists for 6.0 points, and Makhi Chester made a strong impression off the bench with 4 kills on 5 attempts for a .600 percentage. Alex Strough ran the offense in this one, dishing out 23 assists and adding an ace.
Wednesday’s home match against a solid St. Ambrose squad (19-10) proved to be the toughest of the three sweeps, but the Jaguars closed it out 3-0 (26-24, 25-14, 25-22) to cap a statement week. Antunez was the standout performer, posting 15 kills on a .483 clip with an ace and 6 digs for 16.0 points, while Lopez matched him in total points with 16.5 on the strength of 10 kills and a team-high 5 aces. Pascual contributed 8 kills and two block assists, and Jared Byas had arguably his best night at libero with 17 digs. Lapa returned to the setter role and ran a clean offense with 31 assists.
Three sweeps in five days after a difficult road loss shows the kind of resilience and depth this team has built. The Jaguars are one of the hottest teams in the conference heading into the final stretch, and with the playoffs beginning in mid-April, the timing couldn’t be better.
Up Next
Governors State hits the road Tuesday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m. against Trinity Christian (IL) in Palos Heights.