MERCED, Calif. – The 2015 season came to an end for Warner University men's volleyball team over the weekend. The No. 8 Royals finished runner-up in the National Division Tournament hosted by the University of California-Merced. The Royals posted a 2-1 record in the tournament with wins over host-UC Merced and No. 6 Concordia University-Irvine (Calif.). In their first year under head coach Steve Benson the Royals finish with a 17-9 overall record.
In their first game of the tournament, the Royals lost 3-0 (26-28, 21-25, 22-25) to No. 9 Hope International University (Calif.).
Joshua Jordan and
Steven Vaughn combined for 22 of Warner's 35 kills in the match. Jordan led the team with a .303 hitting percentage.
Martin Krueger opened the tournament with 22 assists and four block assists.
National Division Defensive Player of the Year
Hui Ding finished with 10 digs in the Royals' opener.
Devin Lofton led all players with six block assists as well.
The Royals ended day one of the tournament with a victory over UC Merced 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-19). Jordan added 15 kills to his day one total (27) and was again efficient at the net posting a .368 hitting percentage. Vaughn followed with 10 kills giving him 20 in two matches.
Krueger led the offense with 32 assists and had five service aces to lead all players. Ding led the back row effort with 12 digs and had a service ace of his own.
On day two, the Royals close out the tournament with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 23-25, 28-26) victory against No. 6 Concordia University-Irvine; their first in school history. The Royals posted a tournament-high 59 kills against the Eagles and were led again by Jordan and
Dylan Sechrest both with 15 kills. Vaughn added 11 kills in the match finishing with 31 for the tournament. Lofton also reached double-digit kills (10) and posted a .450 hitting percentage.
Krueger finished with a season-high 55 assists giving him 99 in three tournament matches. Ding also had a season-high finishing with 29 digs. For their efforts, both Ding and Krueger were named to the All-Tournament Team.
