Lots of fun and exciting things happened over the break for the Maroons sports’ teams, including the start of the Men’s Volleyball season. The team participated in the Wittenburg Kickoff Classic in Springfield, Ohio, where they had three games. The first game was Friday January 10th, 2025, against the Tigers who had a home court advantage. The home court advantage for the Tigers helped them prevail over the Maroons in all three sets. The Maroons, however, came back ready to try and earn some victories the next day against Thiel College and Concordia University Chicago. Roanoke and Thiel played all five sets of their match, with Roanoke pulling the upset in the final set with a score of 15-11. Junior Jackson Rutkowski recorded 5 aces and 18 kills in that game. Both records were a team high for that game. Roanoke had now split their record with one win and one loss on the season, and in the Wittenburg Classic. The game against Concordia Chicago directly followed the Roanoke v. Thiel match. The Maroons had a surge of energy already in them, and wanted to continue their win streak, and push the momentum further. The first set seemed to be a tough back and forth matchup with the Maroons barely winning the first set with a score of 26-24. The Cougars from Concordia Chicago seemed to be a good opponent for the Maroons as another tight set followed with the Cougars barely edging the Maroons out. The next two sets of the contest were Maroon victories, which led to a 2-1 record for the Maroons so far this season. Something the Maroons might want to clean up this week in practices are their errors. Errors are inevitable, especially in volleyball, but less errors will most likely lead to more efficient passing and more kills for the Roanoke Men’s Volleyball team. Setter and Outside Hitter Gabe Fabbro set a new individual record for assists with 42 in the match against Concordia Chicago. Way to go Maroons on a great start to the season! Roanoke will travel to two different sites in Pennsylvania for three games – one on Friday, and the other two on Saturday – and we wish them all the best of luck!
Lauren Price
Staff Reporter
