Atlantic City, N.J. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Volleyball team opened its inaugural season on Friday evening, taking on Belmont-Abbey College in a spirited affair at Harrah's Hotel & Casino in the Garden State.

Belmont-Abbey spoiled the Spartans debut, taking a straight sets victory from the maroon and gold. However, the scores were not indicative of STAC's overall performance on the court in the team's first-ever match. The hard work, energy and enthusiasm shown by Head Coach Thiago Lopes, his staff and his team helped contribute to a positive match environment as STAC battled on the road in a non-traditional volleyball facility.

Set Results

Set 1: Belmont-Abbey 25/STAC 20

Set 2: Belmont-Abbey 25/STAC 20

Set 3: Belmont-Abbey 25/STAC 12

How it Happened

• The Spartans recorded 22 total kills in three sets (8-10-4) with the Crusaders.
• Freshman outside hitter/opposite hitter Gabriel Vieira (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) paced the Spartans offense with seven kills, while freshman middle blocker Dario Caviglia (Savona, Italy) had five.
• Junior libero Fernando Juarez (Maywood, Calif.) recorded a team-high six digs in the match.
• Freshman setter Kyran Versteegen (Sittard, Netherlands) tallied 17 serve assists (5.7 assists/set), two digs, a solo block and three block assists.
• Freshman outside hitter/opposite hitter Andre Cippiciani (Sao Paulo, Brazil) tallied three kills, one service ace and four digs in the match.
• Freshman middle blocker David Weiss (Oyten Germany) racked up three of the Spartans nine total block assists.

Up Next

St. Thomas Aquinas continues play in the 2nd Annual Battle 4 the Boardwalk Invitational on Saturday (January 13), as the Spartans take on Barton College in day two action at 9:30 a.m. inside of Harrah's Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. STAC will then face off with Fairleigh Dickinson University at 2:30 p.m. to close their season opening weekend.