WASHINGTON – It was the best night in decades for the Gallaudet University men's volleyball program as the Bison swept a doubleheader from Bryn Athyn College on Saturday night in the Field House.

Gallaudet (4-14, 1-3 United East) shut out Bryn Athyn (8-14, 2-2 United East) in the first match, 3-0, that counted as a United East contest. The second match, GU won in four sets, 3-1, in a non-conference contest over the Lions.

"From the first few practices we had, I knew this could be a special group of guys," said Gallaudet coach Ben Campman. "Every match we have played, opposing coaches have mentioned how much potential we have. Finally, seeing our squad work like it should and win a match 3-0 in conference play feels really good."

The tone was set early in the first match as both teams went toe-to-toe with each other. GU jumped out to a five-point lead which was later extended to six, several times, before Bryn Athyn rallied. The Lions trailed 16-10 but went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead. The teams went back-and-forth with 3-0 runs before Bryn Athyn stood a point away from the set win, 24-25. GU staved off elimination with a Lions service error as the Bison scored four of the next five points to win, 28-26. The first set featured seven ties and four lead changes.

In the second set, Bryn Athyn took an early lead and held a 12-15 advantage before Gallaudet scored seven points to take a 19-15. The Bison went on that 7-0 run with first year John Scarboro (Austin, Texas) serving the ball and picking up two aces in the process. The Lions got the sideout and three straight points to cut the GU lead to one, 19-18. Moments later, first year Elian Zfati (Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded back-to-back kills as the Bison led 23-19. First-year middle hitter Tyler Wascher (Noblesville, Ind.) and Zfati closed out the set with kills as GU won, 25-21.
The third set saw four lead changes and GU holding a 6-2 lead before the Lions took their own leads at 9-8 and 13-10. The set saw a ninth tie when Bryn Athyn recorded a kill to knot the set at 17 apiece. The Lions made a bad set to give the ball back GU and Zfati helped to serve the Bison to five straight points as GU led 23-17. Wascher ended the match on a service ace, 25-19, as GU celebrated its first conference win of the season.

Wascher led the offense with a career-high 10 kills and three blocks while first-year opposite Zachary Bippus (Fishers, Ind.) added nine kills, seven digs, one ace and one block. Zfati, who started at outside hitter, tallied a career best eight kills, 15 digs, two aces and one assist. First-year setter Troy Holcomb (Fremont, Calif.) passed out 31 assists, made five digs, three aces, three blocks and two kills. Scarboro chipped in four kills, four aces (career best) and three blocks. First year Callum Paterson (Ontario, Canada) shifted back to libero and made a career best 17 digs. GU had a season-high 13 aces in the conference win.

Bryn Athyn was paced by Bryan Choute's 10 kills and 16 digs to go with two blocks and two aces. Setter Laban Genzlinger passed out 13 assists and made six digs in the loss. The Lions were without the services of 6-foot-6 opposite/middle hitter Miles Shepard, who didn't travel due to injury. Shepard leads the United East with 249 kills in 19 matches (13.1 kills per match). 

There was a 15-minute break before the two teams lined up for a second match.

Gallaudet won the second match in four sets, 25-15, 19-25, 25-21, 25-16. The match featured 27 ties and eight lead changes. There were 10 ties in both the second and third sets alone. The Bison hit over 21 percent in the first and third sets and had a sideout percentage of 70 percent for the entire match.

Bippus led the way with a double-double as he tallied 12 kills and 10 digs to go with three kills, one ace and one assist. First-year outside hitter Kodi Lee (Lehi, Utah) was the second Bison with a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs. Holcomb was the third and final Bison with a double-double as he passed out 19 assists and made a match-high 14 digs to go with three aces and two blocks.

Wascher was third on the team with nine kills and a team best six blocks. Scarboro served up two more aces and recorded four kills and one block. First year Tyler Furzland (Worcester, Mass.) made his season debut and passed out a career best 11 assists and made three blocks (one solo).

Defensively, first year Seth Lopez (Jackson Township, N.J.) made a career best 10 digs while Zfati and Paterson made nine digs each from the libero position.

The Lions were led by Choute's 14 kills and 14 digs while Genzlinger passed out 29 assists and made two blocks.

"Bryn Athyn is a good team and their coach, Jason Barshinger, has got them trending in a great direction," said Campman. "I think our two programs are going to have some great matches in the coming years. So, to play against them like we did tonight makes me beyond proud of this team. I am lucky to get to have them all as my players."

This is the first time Gallaudet men's volleyball has won two matches in a row since the end of the 1984 season. GU had men's volleyball from 1974-84 and later brough it back for 2012-13.

UP NEXT
GU will take next week off due to Spring Break before heading to Neumann University on Tuesday, March 25, in a 7 p.m. conference match. The Knights (8-9, 2-1 United East) faced the Bison last month (Feb. 15) in a non-conference match and won, 3-1.