Phoenixville, PA – The University of Valley Forge Men's Volleyball team faced the Phoenix of Wilson College on Tuesday evening for a conference matchup. Despite securing the first set wins in program history, a hard fought battle, the Patriots fell to the Phoenix 2-3 (24-26, 26-24, 13-25, 25-22, 12-15).

Both teams came to play as the first set was a tight battle, trading points for the entire set. Tied at 18 apiece, Wilson gathered a three-point run, changing the score to 21-18. Valley Forge responded with two kills from Ryan Deschaine and Garrett Olsen, followed by an ace from David Fletcher to tie the set. Sitting at a 23-23 tie, Valley Forge found their 24^th point from a Phoenix error. Although 1-point away from a set win, Wilson was able to close out the first set on three consecutive Patriot errors to claim the 26-24 win.

In similar fashion, the second set was a head-to-head battle with both teams dishing it out on the court. Up 11-8, the Patriots allowed the Phoenix to string together a 5-0 run to take a 13-11 lead. Valley Forge took advantage of two Phoenix errors and an impressive kill from James Boyce to take a 1-point lead. Wilson found a bit of momentum from a few Valley Forge errors and an ace to secure a 17-15 lead. After a kill from Paul Brown, Wilson committed three errors, having the score favor Valley Forge 19-17. The Phoenix found point 20 after a kill and two Patriot attacking errors, but Fletcher stopped their rally with a hard kill to tie the set 20-20. Valley Forge rode the push and secured three consecutive points to take a 2-point lead. Wilson didn't quit the fight and was able to benefit two points from errors, tying the set yet again at 23 apiece. Valley Forge found a point from a Wilson error and was one away from a set win but Wilson put themselves back in it with a Patriot service error. After shaking the mistake, the Patriots took the 26-24 victory after two Wilson mistakes.

Wilson dominated the third set for a 25-13 final score.

Despite the third set hiccup, Valley Forge poised themselves together and stayed in the fight. Valley Forge took a forceful 10-2 lead to start the set. Wilson responded with a 5-0 run to cut the Patriot's lead to 3. After capitalizing off of three Phoenix errors and two kills from Brown, the Patriots captured their largest lead of the set at 15-9. However, the Phoenix tallied a 9-2 run to gain a 1-point lead. Valley Forge was able to flip the drive to close out the set 25-22, evening up the score 2-2.

The final frame matched the energy of the night, keeping both teams on their toes. Only trailing by 1, Wilson assembled a significant 5-0 run to take a 7-3 lead. Valley Forge refused to let up, keeping the intensity and forcing 5 Phoenix errors to tie the set 9-9. However, after committing three errors, the Patriots gave the lead back to Wilson. Down by 2, Olsen slammed a kill to make the score 13-12, but it wouldn't be enough for the Patriots as Wilson closed out the fifth set for a 15-12 final score.

As a team, the Patriots tallied a team high 29 kills on 26 assists, 10 service aces, 4 blocks, and 49 digs.

Although it was a heartbreaking loss, Fletcher led the Patriots with a career-high 20 assists, with Paul Brown tallying a career-high 10 kills, followed by Olsen with 7, and Deschaine with 6. Deschaine played an impressive match, securing a career-high 5 service aces, ranking him 12^th in NCAA DIII for service aces per set. Jordan Kieffer gathered 12 digs, while Olsen collected 11, and Deschaine earned 8. James Boyce, Paul Brown, and Olsen all tallied 2 blocks each.

Valley Forge will face the Knights of Neumann University on Tuesday, April 6^th at 7 p.m.