Graceland Battles in Five-Set Match Against St. Ambrose

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Graceland University men's volleyball team pushed St. Ambrose to five sets on Saturday but fell short in a 3-2 loss at the Heart of America Challenge. The Yellowjackets showed resilience, rallying from a two-set deficit before St. Ambrose sealed the match in the fifth set.

Graceland moves to 0-5 overall (0-0 Heart of America Athletic Conference), while St. Ambrose improves to 4-4 (0-0 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference).

"We are very proud of our team's effort and resilience today," said head coach Eric Majors. "The entire team is learning how to compete at a high level, and I look forward to seeing where we go from here. Quite honestly, we're not expecting these matches to be close at the beginning of the season. Instead, we're focusing on us—on improving and developing a long-term focus on success. We want to be playing the best volleyball possible by the end of the season."

St. Ambrose 3, Graceland 2 (25-17, 25-16, 21-25, 22-25, 15-9)

Graceland struggled in the opening two sets, hitting .038 in the second frame while St. Ambrose maintained efficiency with a .360 attack percentage. The Yellowjackets responded in the third and fourth sets, holding St. Ambrose to .061 in the fourth set and forcing a decisive fifth set.

Stat Leaders:

• Andrew Cziep: 14 kills, 11 errors, 47 total attacks (.064), 14.5 total points
• Andrew Youssef: 11 kills, 5 errors, 33 total attacks (.182), 12.0 total points
• Elijah Kline: 11 kills, 2 errors, 28 total attacks (.321), 13.5 total points
• Luis Garcia: 34 assists, 3 kills, 10 digs
• Davian George: 4 kills, 7.5 total points

St. Ambrose's Pedro Zang led all players with 16 kills on a .452 hitting percentage, while Anthony Anderson provided 27 assists.

Graceland returns to action against Central Christian College at 7:00 p.m. in McPherson, KS.

For more information on Graceland men's volleyball and all Graceland athletics, visit GUjackets.com.