Jimmies split pair of matches on first day of CCCK tournament

MCPHERSON, Kan.-- The Jimmie men's volleyball team continued its nine-match road trip Wednesday afternoon with a pair of matches at the Central Christian College (Kan.) tournament. Jamestown opened with a sweep of Kansas Wesleyan University, then nearly pulled off the comeback against No. 12 Mount Mercy (Iowa) University before falling in five sets.

Jamestown (14-3) will play twice on Thursday to conclude the CCCK tournament, taking on Simpson College at 11:30 a.m. and Cumberland University at 4:00 p.m.

Downey Huynh, Oguzhan Oguz, and Caylor Cox provided the majority of the firepower for the Jimmie offense in a 25-13, 25-18, 25-16 win over the Coyotes. Huynh had 12 kills and hit .350, while Oguz hit .471 on 11 kills. Cox also hit .400 with seven kills and only one error.

Derek Correa passed out 31 assists in helping UJ to a .388 hitting percentage for the match. Defensively, Huynh had six digs and the trio of Oguz, Correa, and Adam Lopata each had five. Tysen Myers had four total blocks, including one solo, and Ever Cancel had a solo block along with a pair of block assists.

UJ improved to 6-0 all-time against KWU, including 4-0 this season.

The Jimmies faced 13th-ranked Mount Mercy later in the afternoon, and after falling behind 2-0, took sets three and four by identical 25-20 scores to force a fifth set.

Mount Mercy trailed 1-0 but won 12 of the next 17 points to take a commanding 12-6 lead. Jamestown closed the gap to three on two separate occasions, but the Mustangs finished with two of the last three points for the match win.

Huynh led UJ with 23 kills, followed by Cox with 21 and Oguz with 14. Correa tied his own match record with 57 assists set earlier this season against Dordt (Iowa).

Lopata had 14 digs and Oguz recorded a double-double with 13 digs. Cox also had a double-double with 10 digs. Cancel was in on six total blocks.