In the kick-off weekend for Mighty Oaks Men's Volleyball, they traveled to Davenport, IA for a three game skid.
They opened the inaugural season with Saint Ambrose University on their home court. The Mighty Oaks got off to a quick start winning the first two sets 25-19, 25-17. In a tight third set the Bee's of Saint Ambrose took the third and fourth sets 25-22, 25-14. The tight match needed a fifth set to see if the Mighty Oaks could find their first victory as a team. The Oaks jumped out quickly to an 8-3 lead before the Bees brought it back to 9-8. The Mighty Oaks would pull away and win on an attacking error, 15-12 in the fifth set. Leading the way for the Oaks in the first game was Gaston Barrionuevo with 18 kills on 34 attacks also lead in digs with `0, Danilo Negaro with 41 assists, and
Robin Ruhe had 10 blocks on the defensive side.
In their second game of the season, the Mighty Oaks faced the task of #5 William Penn. The Oaks continued their hot streak taking the first two sets in tight fashion winning them 25-22 and 25-21. In what seemed to be a commanding third set, William Penn was able to pull the match closer together with a 25-19 set. The Mighty Oaks pulled off the upset in the fourth set winning 25-20 to achieve their first ranked victory as a squad. Offensively Hazem Abdelghafar lead the way with his 12 kills on 36 attempts followed by Gaston Barrioneuvo with eight kills on 22 attempts.
Danilo Negrao racked up the assists again with 32. Defensively the Mighty Oaks were lead by
Mert Asma with 12 digs followed by Abdelghafar with 10. Shutting down the net was
Pawel Kulinski with 5 blocks.
In the third and final game of the trip, the Mighty Oaks took on Culver-Stockton out of Missouri. Continuing what they started, the Mighty Oaks stayed perfect with a 3-1 victory. Quickly out of the gate the Wildcats took the first set 25-22. Following this set, the Mighty Oaks never looked back claiming the next three 25-21, 25-19, and 25-15 to remain undefeated. Destroying the court, Hazem Abdelghafar lead the way with 21 kills on 37 attempts followed by
Luke Wilson with 12 kills on 26 attempts. Once again, Negrao dished out 45 assists. Asma lead the way again on the defensive side with nine digs. The team combined for 12 blocks on the day.
The Mighty Oaks Men's Volleyball team continues on the road next as they travel to Rio Grande, OH to face Life University, Bluefield University, Siena Heights University, and Park University Gilbert (AZ) this weekend.
