Stunners Coach Daryl Adams put Matt Hilling as the starting Opposite, and setter Randy Ramirez didn’t waste time, with Matt scoring on his first six swings. Ramirez also contributed with a service ace during this run giving the Stunners an 8-4 lead. Stunners kept the 4-point lead for most of the set. But Tyrants battled back with kills by #22 Austen Lovett and #16 Daniel Jacobs to cut the lead to 18-16. Stunners countered with two kills by Hilling and #7 Joey Jarvis plus a block by #9 Nick West to close the set at 25-20.
In set #2, Tyrants took the early lead, primarily due to Stunners’ passing and hitting errors. While #6 Corey Chavers and Jarvis struggled, Tyrants’ hitters capitalized by scoring their points in transition. With blistering attacks from Jacobs and Ryan Maune, the Tyrants Increased their lead to 6-points at the media timeout 16-10. Tyrants held on with their defense and coasted to a 25-18 victory after a kill by Jacobs.
In set #3, the Stunners’ hitters improved their play and held on to a 1-point lead for most of the match. But the Tyrants’ tenacious, gritty defensive kept the score close as the teams exchanged the lead several times. At 20-20, the game began to switch to the Tyrant’s favor as the Stunners’ offense began to crumble again. Stunners’ #22 Nick Amado, an anchor for the team, committed a hitting error, giving the Tyrants the lead 22-21. Daniel Jacobs capitalized with a bounce kill on a Stunners’ overpass, pulling away to 23-21. Tyrants held on to a 24-23 lead and won the set on a Stunn’ers’ service error at 25-23.
In set # 4 Stunners took an early lead by getting middles Nick Amado and Nick West running again in their offense. A run of kills by Jarvis and Chavers and blocks by Amado and Hilling gave the Stunners an 11-5 lead. Tyrants sided out well to stay within 6 points. Then before the media timeout, a Chavers block with his hands above the antenna increased their lead to 16-9. Tyrants attempted a rally on a dump kill by #10 Gabriel Quinones and a set of kills by Jacobs and Grasso. But at 20-14, the Stunners scored on two kills by West to 23-15. Tyrants countered with a mini-run with kills by Grasso and a block by Lovett. But it wasn’t enough as the Stunners closed out the set with a service ace by West and a kill by Hilling kill 25-18.
In set #5, Stunners took the early lead at 8-3 on kills by Chavers, Hilling, and Jarvis. Tyrants scored on kills by #1 Anthony Robinson and Daniel Jacobs. After Tyrants sided out, the Stunners struggled to do the same, and the Tyrants scored a run of transition points with three kills by Grasso and a block by Lovett to cut the lead to 10-9. But the Stunners bounced back at 11-10 and scored the following four consecutive points on a kill by Chavers, Ramirez service ace, and then a finishing block and kill by Chavers to win the match 15-10.
Match Statistics
OC Stunners:
#6 Corey Chavers – 30 Points (25 Kills, 4 Blocks, 1 Ace)
#18 Matt Hilling – 16 points (15 Kills, 1 Block)
#7 Joey Jarvis – 13 Points (12 Kills, 1 Block)
#22 Nick Amado – 12 Points (11 Kills, 1 Block)
#9 Nick West – 6 Points (6 Kills)
Texas Tyrants:
#9 Gianluca Grasso – 19 points (18 Kills, 1 Ace)
#16 Daniel Jacobs – 12 Points (12 Kills)
#15 Ryan Maune – 12 Points (10 Kills, 1 Ace, 1 Block)
#1 Anthony Robinson – 10 Points (8 Kills, 2 Blocks)