MOUNT VERNON, Ohio--In a match-up of Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference men's volleyball opponents both receiving national recognition in the NAIA poll, it was fitting that visiting Lawrence Tech and Mount Vernon Nazarene split their weekend series with both matches going five sets at Ariel Arena.

On Saturday, LTU bounced back nicely with a 25-18, 25-27, 25-22, 23-25, 15-9 victory after losing a heartbreaker to the Cougars who rallied from two sets down, 25-23, 25-23, 19-25, 19-25, 15-17 the night before. The No. 14 Blue Devils now stand at 11-2 on the season and 7-2 in the WHAC, while the Cougars--who are receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top-15--are now 8-3 overall and 6-3 in the conference.

In today's win, LTU sizzled in the decisive set with a .778 attack percentage with eight kills with just one error in nine swings while holding MVNU to just .143. Redshirt junior Brendon Down and freshman Gustavo Machado each had three kills in the final stanza. Down finished with a match-high 24 kills (.500) and Machado had nine. 

The LTU offense also was aided by freshman Mario Cid with 19 kills (.351), sophomore Akram Askoul who had 10 and reigning WHAC Setter of the Week freshman Nathaniel Brownlee recorded 60 assists for one shy of his school single-match benchmark set last week.

Defensively, graduate student Matheus Andrade had 17 digs to lead all student-athletes, junior Connor Cooper had seven total blocks and Askoul added six (including four solo) as LTU outblocked MVNU 16-12. 

In addition, the Blue Devils had statistical advantages in points (90-64), kills (67-50), service aces (7-2) and digs (46-42).

Spencer Stanley paced the Cougars' cause with 15 kills, followed by Landon Ewers with 12 and Luke Funte, 10. Ewers added six blocks and Funte had five, while Cole Custodio led the way with nine digs.

For the match, LTU outhit the Cougars .267 to .159.

On Friday evening, Down and Cid led the way with 16 and 12 kills, respectively, for the Blue Devils who were outhit .206 to .147 and committed an uncharacteristic 32 attack errors for a season-low. Brownlee added a match-high-tying 44 assists.

Graduate student Gustavo Heidrich led the LTU defense with 15 digs and Askoul had five blocks.

For MVNU, Stanley exploded for 21 kills and Ewers produced 14. Setter Jaysen Matsumoto had match bests of 44 assists, 18 digs and four service aces.

The Crusaders made a stirring comeback after losing the first two sets by a combined four points, outhitting the Blue Devils .270 to .119 over the last three sets to snap LTU's program-record nine-match win streak.

Lawrence Tech continues its spring break tour on Tuesday in Georgetown, Ky.., where the Blue Devils will square off against No. 9-ranked Georgetown College in Davis-Reid Alumni Gym.