Red Devils Earn Senior Day Sweep Over Maranatha Baptist

EUREKA, Ill. – The Eureka men's volleyball team celebrated Senior Day with a straight-set win over Maranatha Baptist on Tuesday night, honoring lone senior Jake Potter (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg Christian) prior to the match for his role in the program's first season.

Eureka took control in the first set after a tight start, opening a 10-4 lead with kills from Ignacio Hernandez (Venezuela/Saint Francis Puerto Rico) and Dyson Wutzke (San Diego, Calif./El Capitan), along with a service ace by Wutzke. Maranatha Baptist cut the gap slightly, but Potter's kill helped ignite a run that extended Eureka's lead to 14-6. The Red Devils kept the momentum, outscoring the visitors to go up 19-8 on four straight kills, including two from Wutzke, one from Hernandez, and one from Maddox Kluesner (Magna, Utah/Stansbury). Potter added another late kill to push the advantage to 24-13, and Eureka closed out the opening set 25-13.

In the second set, the teams were even at 3-3 before Eureka went on a 5-0 run featuring two kills from Hernandez and one from Jayden Miyahira (Kalihi, Hawaii/Radford). Maranatha Baptist remained within striking distance at 14-8 before the Red Devils again pulled away with another 5-0 spurt, capped by kills from Claude Paras (Philippines/Canyon Springs), Wutzke, and Reece Smith (Washington, Ill./Washington Community) for a 19-8 advantage. The visitors trimmed the deficit to 20-15, but Eureka responded with a 4-0 run highlighted by a kill apiece from Javier Polacio (Colombia/CBCPM) and Miyahira and a service ace by Kenyel Vazquez Ortiz (Cidra, P.R./Englewood). Eureka closed set two 25-17 on a Maranatha Baptist service error.

Eureka dominated the third set from the start, building a 13-1 lead behind early kills from Wutzke and Potter and three from Paras. Maranatha Baptist battled back to 15-8, but the Red Devils finished strong with Hernandez tallying three kills and an ace down the stretch in a commanding 25-11 set victory.

Hernandez led the Red Devils with 13 kills and two blocks while hitting .524. Wutzke added eight kills, three aces, and a .727 hitting percentage, and Potter finished with five kills on Senior Day. Paras, Miyahira, and Kluesner each contributed six kills. Kawehi Kaneakua (Kalihi, Hawaii/University Laboratory School) paced the Eureka offense with 34 assists, with Jayden Belanger (Las Vegas, Nev./Northwest CTA) adding 10. Defensively, Kendall Killins (Bolingbrook, Ill./Plainfield East) led the Red Devils with 11 digs.

UP NEXT

Eureka will travel to Springfield, Mo. this weekend to compete in the MWPVC D2 Crossover hosted by Missouri State.