SOUTHFIELD--The Lawrence Tech men's volleyball squad won its sixth-consecutive match on Friday night behind an efficient offense and an equally stifling defense with a 25-17, 25-13, 25-10 victory over visiting Bethel University (Indiana) in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference action at the Don Ridler Field House.

Freshman Gustavo Machado led the way for LTU with a match-high 14 kills on 17 swings against no errors that translates to an .824 attack percentage--a conference record for a single-match, according to the WHAC website. (Aquinas' Julian Armendano set the record of .577 on Jan. 14, 2022 against Cumberland.) He also had three service aces.

Teammate Brendon Down, a redshirt junior, added 11 kills while hitting .381 to help the Blue Devils hit .429 as a team. Sophomore Nathaniel Brownlee directed the Blue Devils' offense with a match-best 26 assists plus five digs.

Besides the final score, LTU also dominated statistical categories in kills (36-21), points (52-27), aces (7-2), blocks (9-4) and digs (21-16).

Afonso Matias led the Pilots, who were held to a .000 attack percentage, with five kills. Marcos Henrike added three kills and tied for the match lead with four total blocks.

Junior JT McCarthy (4 kills, 3 solo blocks) and Machado had two kills apiece as LTU closed the first set on a 4-1 run to win by eight points. In the second set, the Blue Devils went on a 7-0 run on Machado's service--including three aces--to turn a 7-6 lead into a 14-6 cushion. Lawrence Tech took a two-sets-to-none advantage with a 12-point win. In the final stanza, LTU held leads of 7-1, 12-2, 18-6 and 23-9 to cruise to the victory.

Lawrence Tech will have its regular-season finale at home on Saturday when the Blue Devils host Goshen on Senior Day starting at 3 p.m. The winner will clinch a berth into the WHAC Tournament.

(Editor's note: Photos below by J'Saun Jackson.)