Blue Devils Sweep Rochester Christian Behind Efficient Offense

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. — Lawrence Tech used a balanced, efficient attack to sweep Rochester Christian (Mich.) 3-0 on Tuesday night in a WHAC matchup at Garth Pleasant Arena, winning 25-14, 25-15, 25-14.

The Blue Devils controlled the match from the opening serve, finishing with 45 kills, six team blocks and a .494 hitting percentage while holding the Warriors to 16 kills and a negative hitting mark at -.013. Lawrence Tech also held a 75-43 edge in total points and limited Rochester Christian to just three aces against 16 service errors.

Set one turned in Lawrence Tech’s favor midway through the frame, when Elvis Qafarena ignited a run with three consecutive kills to break a 5-5 tie and push the Blue Devils in front 8-5. Gustavo Machado followed with a service ace as the lead continued to grow, and a late ace from Nehemiah Rosillo stretched the margin to 21-10. Elijah Cannon closed out the opener at 25-14 with a kill off a set from Pedro Aguiar.

The second set followed a similar script as the Blue Devils again built an early cushion and never trailed. Machado delivered back-to-back kills to give Lawrence Tech a 10-6 advantage, and setter Troy Horvath added a service ace to push the lead to 11-6. Qafarena’s late kill made it 23-14, and Cannon once more provided the set-clinching swing, putting away the final ball for a 25-15 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Lawrence Tech finished the sweep with another wire-to-wire performance in the third. Early pressure at the service line and attack errors forced by the Blue Devils’ block helped open a 5-2 lead, and the visitors never allowed Rochester Christian to mount a sustained rally. Although Max Li briefly stemmed the momentum for the hosts with a service ace that cut the deficit to 16-9, Lawrence Tech closed strong and sealed the match when middle blocker Yegor Volkov hammered the final kill off a set from Thomas Tanedo for the 25-14 result.

Akram Askoul led the Blue Devils’ offense with nine kills on 12 swings and a .667 hitting percentage, adding an ace, three digs and a block for a match-high 10.5 points. Volkov added eight kills on 10 attempts without many errors, hitting .800 while contributing six digs and two block assists. As a team, Lawrence Tech finished with 40 assists on 45 kills and recorded 36 digs to keep Rochester Christian’s attack in check.

Setter Pedro Aguiar steered the offense efficiently, recording 11 assists, six digs and an ace as part of a 40-assist team setting effort for Lawrence Tech. Rochester Christian’s Josh Eaton provided most of the offense for the hosts with nine kills and 10.0 points, but the Blue Devils’ serving and blocking pressure limited the Warriors’ rhythm throughout the 1-hour, 8-minute contest, which drew an announced attendance of 50.