PHILIPPI, W.Va. - The University of Charleston men's volleyball team lost a very close match tonight against the Battlers from Alderson Broaddus University.  While the match was close for the entire evening, the Golden Eagles fell short in their attempt to defeat AB.

Leading the way for UC in tonight's match was Ryan Santos with 11 kills, while hitting .160.  He also contributed 1 ace and 1.5 blocks.  A few other players had notable contributions as well.  Rajahl Moxey finished the night with 9 kills, while hitting .273 and added 1 ace, 3 digs and an assist.  Brian Cranston accumulated 8 kills while hitting .095 and added 3 aces, 2 blocks and 5 digs.  Anthony Rivera had 29 of the teams 31 assists along with 3 digs and .5 blocks.

"AB is a pretty good team, I should know, I recruited all but one of their players.  They have great chemistry and their key players don't make many errors.  Throw in the fact that they have all been playing together for at least 2 years now and they are a team that can upset a lot of the other programs out there" said Coach Crane who later went on to compare his current team to the Battlers when they were an all-freshman program.  "I truly believe that if I put my players up against AB's all-freshman team from 2013 we would be the team that came out on top every time.  That is not meant to be a knock on AB by any means.  They had great heart, but lacked size, and with the exception of one or two players, were not at the same skill level as the players that are starting at UC now.  The only reason I bring this up, is because we have an all-freshman team here at UC, and just like AB's team when they were a new program, we make a ton of mistake.  Those mistakes become fewer and fewer as student athletes get older and get a few matches under their belt."

One final note from Coach Crane, who wanted to make sure that his team heard this at least one more time.  "Our guys are really in the beginning stage of the development in the sport of volleyball, and while I treat them as if they are upper classmen, and expect them to perform perfectly every second of every match, it is not the reality of the situation they are in.  They are freshman, and I understand the mistakes, and while I accept them, I will never stop pushing them to not make them.  While every coach out there understands what I am talking about, I believe that sometimes the athletes think we are just being mean.  I can assure you that's not the case.  We simply see how much potential our players have, and are trying to figure out what is going to motivate them to achieve greatness.  That being said, I couldn't have asked for a better group of guys to start a program with.  I am proud of every one of them, and I do not tell them enough."