Penn State-Altoona provided the opposition as the Roanoke College men’s volleyball team hosted their first ever home match last Saturday evening at the Bast Center in Salem. Roanoke took a five set win in front of a good crowd, 24-26, 25-22, 25-16, 23-25 and 15-10. After splitting the first four sets the two teams needed one more to 15 to determine a winner. In the deciding fifth set the Lions claimed the first point, but it was the only point the Maroons trailed.
Three-straight points put Roanoke back on top and RC led 8-5 when the teams switched ends of the court with the Lions winning three of the next four points to pull within one at 9-8. After Roanoke won the next two, Altoona called a time-out, but the Maroons won the next point. After a single point for the Lions, Roanoke once again scored two straight for a 14-9 match-point lead.
A Lions kill delayed what would be the matchclinching point of a kill by Jackson Rutkowski for the 3-2 win. Michael Cummins led RC with 17 kills. Rutkowski had a dozen and CJ Kingston had 11 kills. The Maroons will begin a long road swing starting this Friday when they travel to Marymount for a nonconference matchup with the Saints. First serve is scheduled for 6 pm in Arlington.