ASTON, Pa. – There was a bounce in the steps of Gallaudet University's men's volleyball team here Tuesday evening as the Bison took to the court after being off for 10 days.

GU, fresh off Spring Break, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over Neumann University in a key United East conference match. The Bison had the third-place Knights on the ropes as the teams went into the third set, but the host gathered themselves and went on the attack.

Neumann (11-9, 4-1 United East) came all the way back to complete a reverse sweep of Gallaudet (4-15, 1-4 United East) 25-22, 25-19, 18-25, 16-25, 12-15.

The loss impacts Gallaudet's playoff chances as only the top six teams make the United East tournament. The Bison are currently tied for seventh in the conference standings. A win on Tuesday would've pushed them above the cut line. GU has three conference matches left in the regular season with two of them against the top two teams in the United East.

First-year outside hitter Kodi Lee (Lehi, Utah) led the Bison with 14 kills. First-year opposite Zachary Bippus (Fishers, Ind.) finished with 13 kills and 12 digs for a double-double to go with four blocks (one solo). First-year middle hitter Tyler Wascher (Noblesville, Ind.) was the third-leading Bison on offense with nine kills to go with a career-high seven blocks (three solo).

First-year setter Troy Holcomb (Fremont, Calif.) passed out a career-high 47 assists and made 13 digs for the double-double. First year Elian Zfati (Brooklyn, N.Y.) made a team-high 18 digs in the loss. The Bison finished with 15 service errors as a team.

Neumann was paced by Trey Edmonds and JP Perdomo who tallied 21 and 14 kills, respectively.

The Knights and Bison faced each other earlier this season in a non-conference match as Neumann won, 3-1, in the Field House last month (Feb. 15). 

UP NEXT
Gallaudet will travel to Brooklyn, N.Y., this Saturday, March 29, to play at the Pratt Institute (6-11, 0-5 United East) in a 3 p.m. conference match.