LAURINBURG — The St. Andrews University men’s volleyball team finished out their regular season by going 3-0 in a conference quad meet on Saturday.

St. Andrews defeated conference foe Cincinnati Christian University (Ohio), Bluefield College (Va.) along with sister school Webber International University (Fla.) each in four sets.

The Knights improve to 17-6 on the season as they continue to set the program record for wins. SAU also saw the first triple-double in program history as senior Robin Imar scored double-digit kills, aces, and digs in the win over Webber later Saturday.

SAU 3, Cincinnati Christian 1

The Knights got off to a good start against the Eagles in the first set on Saturday leading 10-4, but could not hold off Cincinnati Christian falling 25-23.

St. Andrews controlled the second set en route to a 25-21 win behind 13 kills. The Knights dominated the third set 25-17 on 13 kills again this time hitting .455 while holding the Eagles to just eight kills.

The fourth set went down to the wire with each team attacking well. The two schools combined for 30 kills and just two errors in the set. St. Andrews was able to close out the match, 25-23 on freshman outside hitter Diego Hernandez’s kill.

Hernandez tallied a career-high 22 kills in the match making only four errors. He also added 11 digs for a double-double along with two aces and two blocks.

Senior Robin Imar added 16 kills and nine digs while hitting .297 with two blocks and an ace. Sophomore setter Jackson Stark led St .Andrews with 50 assists, seven digs, two kills, and an ace.

SAU 3, Webber 1

St. Andrews got off to a terrific start in the first set as Robin Imar served five consecutive aces to help get the Knights out to a 7-1 start. Webber rallied pushing the set into extra points but St. Andrews held on to clinch the set 26-24 as each team recorded 11 kills.

Webber hit well in the second game making 13 kills to hit .360 while St. Andrews still managed 12 kills, but had seven errors and fell 21-25 to the Warriors. The Knights came out on fire in the third set opening up a massive 18-4 lead as they crushed Webber 25-9. St. Andrews hit .563 on 11 kills in the set while Webber only had seven kills.

A competitive fourth set saw Webber lead the whole way as the Knights tied it numerous times but could never take the lead until 23-22. St. andrews hung on for the match win 25-23 on a season-high 19 kills in the set hitting .278.

Imar led the way with his first-ever triple double of 13 kills, 10 digs, and 10 aces to set a school record.

Hernandez had a good match with 15 kills on just five errors as he hit .357 with eight digs and three blocks. Edgar Huerta played a stellar game registering 12 kills on just one error to hit .500 with five digs and two blocks. Jackson Stark tallied 48 assists, three digs, a block and a kill while Jacob DeSouza had eight digs.

SAU 3, Bluefield 1

St. Andrews controlled the first two sets in their non-conference game with Bluefield on Saturday winning 25-19 and 25-20. The Knights tallied 26 kills in the two sets as opposed to just 15 for Bluefield.

It appeared the Knights had the third set in the bag and were coasting leading by five points until Bluefield put together a against some of the St. Andrews reserves.

The Knights had numerous match points including twice St. Andres believed they had match point. Junior Ben Twigger and Jacob DeSouza each thought they had kills for the win, but it was determined they hit the net on their downswing extending the match. Bluefield closed it out 31-29 as each team had 11 kills — with the Knights committing 11 errors.

A competitive final set saw the Knights mercifully close it out 25-23 on a DeSouza kill as St. Andrews had 14 kills in the game and 51 for the match. DeSouza led the Knights with 13 kills while hitting .280 with nine digs and an ace. Nate Blackwell was in double-figures for the match with 11 kills and two digs.

Daryn Freidman and Edgar Huerta eacg had eight kills apiece and combined for nine digs and three aces. Junior libero Carlos Rodriguez led the Knights with 12 digs along with three assists and an ace.

St. Andrews improves to 17-6 overall and 10-2 in the conference with the wins. No. 5 seed Webber goes to 6-13 overall and 5-7 in conference. No. 6 seeded Bluefield falls to 7-17 overall and 4-8 in the conference while No. 3 seed CCU goes to 11-14 overall and 6-6 in conference.

St. Andrews enters the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament as the No. 2 seed behind undefeated Warner University out of Florida.

The teams will travel to Campbellsville University in Kentucky on Friday. St. Andrews will open the tournament at 3 p.m. on Friday, their opponent has not been announced.

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By Troy Baranik

SAU Sports Information Director