WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! Vanguard Athletics has captured its third team NAIA National Title, as the men's volleyball team pulled off a reverse sweep against the Benedictine University Mesa Redhawks on Saturday night in the 2023 NAIA Men's Volleyball National Tournament.  The Lions looked off in the first two sets but leveled up in sets three and four to force a deciding fifth set.  Vanguard trailed by one point three times during the final frame but ended the set on a 6-2 run to capture the first NAIA Red Banner in program history.  Kyle Anema, the fifth-year senior who has done it all for the Lions, did it all again Saturday by leading both teams with 23 kills and hitting .500 in the match.  He also notched two aces and digs, one block assist, and was named by the coaches as the Tournament MVP.  Will Anderson had 20 kills to finish second on the squad and was named a member of the all-tournament team.  Andrew Sheveland made waves as a freshman, tying Anema for a match-high two aces and earning 10 kills.  Ryan Smith had 55 assists and Ryan Jew had 11 digs to pace the lineup.
 
 
What Happened?  The Blue and Gold were unable to hold the Redhawks down in the first or second set, as the California Pacific Conference Champions hit .345 in the first and .409 in the second.  While Valesis Vaisuai got the first kill of the championship match, the Redhawks would snag a 7-4 lead in the early stages.  Kills from Anema and Cody Watts, along with some fine blocking from Vaisuai, helped to level the score at 9-9.  Still, tied a couple rallies later at 11-all, the Redhawks launched a barrage of points to tally a 9-2 run, claiming a 20-13 lead.  Anderson and Anema attempted to bring VU back into the picture with a kill apiece but the Redhawks would not falter down the stretch, taking set one 25-20. VU hit .227 in the frame.

While the Blue and Gold improved to a .300 hitting percentage in the second set and the score would end up being closer, the Redhawks still engineered the same outcome.  Benedictine Mesa scored first but Anderson replied with a big kill to level the score at 1-1.  VU held three one-point leads early on but a service error and two points for the Redhawks forced the Lions to take a timeout down 7-5.  Benedictine Mesa scored twice after the break to go up 9-5, however, VU put up four unanswered points to tie things at nine apiece.  Sheveland picked up his first ace along the way, with Smith and Watts also making a big block to cap the run.  The frame would be tied six more times through the middle stages, but the Redhawks would always score first out of the ties.  Benedictine Mesa then pulled away with a 5-2 stretch that saw VU take its second timeout down 22-19.  Responding with a 4-1 streak of their own, the Lions came within a point, trailing 24-23, with Benedictine Mesa taking a timeout.  Despite the inspired charge, the Redhawks put down a kill out of the break to take the second period 25-23.

Battling to stay alive and see another set, Vanguard wasted little time taking a lead to start the third.  Vaisuai kicked off the set with a monster kill and Anema, Anderson, and Sheveland also slammed down kills to open proceedings with an 8-4 run.  Back-to-back kills for Anema soon had VU up 10-5, forcing Benedictine Mesa to call a timeout.  The reset worked for the Redhawks, as they soon had the set tied at 11-all.  Once more, the teams exchanged points and Benedictine Mesa got to 20 points first, leading 20-18.  Sheveland then found a weak spot on the defense and buried the kill shot to cut the gap to one, with some mistakes by the Redhawks over the next three rallies allowing the Lions to equalize the score at 21-21.  The Redhawks got the next point and the Lions called a timeout, with the squad emerging with some urgency.  Two kills by Anema and a big rejection by Vaisuai and Smith put the Lions up 24-22, with another block from that duo giving Vanguard set three 25-22.  VU hit .353 in the third and held the Redhawks to a .172 mark.

One could observe the confidence building in the Lions through the third and it only got brighter as the fourth moved along.  Despite the Redhawks scoring the first two points, VU picked up a kill and an ace from Anema and the teams jockeyed back and forth from there.  The Lions deleted a 9-6 gap, with Anema throwing down a kill and Smith making a solo block to help tie things at 9-9.  The set was tied three times over the next few rallies but this time, it was Vanguard who would score and go ahead after each tie.  Growing in strength, the Lions then displayed a dominating period of play, as the Lions outscored the Redhawks 11-4 to stake down a 22-16 lead.  The Redhawks took a timeout and came back into their rhythm though, as they made a 6-2 run to close the gap 24-22.  Yet the Blue and Gold did not choke and a block from Anderson and Watts gave VU the set 25-22.  VU hit .242 in the fourth, with the Redhawks at a .194 rate.

For the second-straight night in the tournament, Vanguard entered the fifth set with everything on the line.  The Redhawks had swept Park the night before, meaning they were theoretically more rested.  But Vanguard shrugged off any ideas of weariness and discovered they had more in the tank.  The two sides exchanged errors at the start, but a booming kill for Anderson and an Anema ace allowed VU to slip ahead 3-2.  Benedictine Mesa tied things at 3-3 but Sheveland landed a kill to put VU up 4-3, with an ace from Glen Linden III increasing the lead to 5-3.  The Redhawks then made a counter-offensive, corralling a 7-6 lead, but the Lions tied things up on a strong throw down by Watts.  The match would be tied at 9-9 soon thereafter when a service error pushed Vanguard up 10-9.  Vaisuai and Anderson then combined to block an attack, taking the lead to 11-9 and forcing the Redhawks to call a timeout.  The call did not work out as planned, as Anema and then Anderson buried kills, growing the advantage to 13-10.  Benedictine Mesa burned its second timeout, but an attack error put the Lions on the brink of a title at 14-10.  The Redhawks garnered another kill, but the match would not go beyond the next rally.  Smith lifted a ball up to Anderson and he destroyed it to the deck, and though it took a second, the team realized that that kill had made them the 2023 NAIA National Champions.  On rushed the team to celebrate and the Red Banner and trophy soon followed.


 
The Blue and Gold fired away at a .462 rate in the fifth, with the Redhawks at a .375 clip.

The Lions hit .303 for the match, had 63 kills, 61 assits, 39 digs, and 22 total blocks.  VU had more kills, blocks, and aces than the Redhawks.
 
"Achieving a National Championship has been our goal since day one and it took everything we had," relayed Jordan Amling.  "Through insurmountable adversity this year, we came out on top and that is something I will cherish for the rest of my life."
 
"Tonight's win is a full embodiment of the lessons we learned both as individuals and as a team through all the adversity we've faced this season," replied Andrew Piloto.
 
"This group went through so much," offered Cody Newsome.  "Myself and others had to fight every day and get bills paid to be able to compete on the court.  Not having a gym and having extra practices early in the morning, we pushed through it all!  Love all the guys and God is good!". 
 
"John 13:7, you may not know now, but later, you'll understand," stated Vaisuai.
 
The boys pulled through and I knew we would," said Linden.  "Somehow, someway, even with our backs against the wall down two sets, I knew we could.  Everyone played for each other, and this was very special to be a apart of!"