Tuna, Finn Connection Etches Men's Volleyball's First Win in Program History

OWENSBORO, KY – The Brescia University Men's Volleyball team recorded their first win in program history last night as they defeated (RV) Warner in five sets. This extends the Bearcats' record to 1-4 overall. Head Coach Jerry Forbes records his first win at the helm of the Men's Volleyball program at BU.

The Bearcats were no strangers to playing against ranked opponents as they did last weekend at the Pirate Invitational. The 3-2 Royals of Warner were slated to face this new Bearcats program who started off their young season 0-4. BU would keep it close in set one as a 5-0 run by the Royals would take the set 25-23. The Bearcats battled back in set two as they hit stride for stride with Warner. The Bearcats, once down by as many as four points, came surging back to tie the score at 18 apiece. BU would take their first lead on a Royal attack error and keep it for the remainder of the set as they take set two, 25-21.

This back-and-forth thriller of a match kept the Bearcat fans on their feet as they cheered on their new team. A kill by Tuna Konukcu would get set three rolling as BU takes the lead. BU seemed to play better from behind as the Royals took a 11-8 lead early at the start. The Warner lead then stretched to five and again to six as the Bearcats fell in set three, 25-17. The Bearcats were relentless as they set to prove that they could compete with the Royals in set four. Both teams would take turns turning the scoreboard into their favor until mishaps by the Royal's offense would give the Bearcats a five-point lead. The Bearcats would close out set four with a final score of 25-17 as the match pushes into a determining fifth set.

This set to 15 would determine the winner of this heated matchup as back-to-back kills by Mustafa Yildiz and Meric Akovali kept the momentum going. The Royals would battle back to knot the score at four until four attack errors by Warner would hand the Bearcats a five-point lead. BU kept the pressure on the visiting Royals as a kill by Tuna Konukcu would seal the Bearcats' first win in program history with a final set score of 15-10.

Konukcu led the pack with 13 kills on 40 total chances with just seven errors as Akovali had 10 kills on 28 total chances. Finn Berger had a career night with 31 assists and seven digs.

The Bearcats are slated to take on (RV) Reinhardt today, Feb. 3^rd, at home with a tip-off time of 1pm.