ARLINGTON, Va. - The Marymount University men's volleyball team hosted its first home tri-match of the season on Saturday afternoon, securing two victories in straight sets against Geneva College and Alveria University.

Match 1: Marymount 3, Geneva 0

The first match of the day panned out to be the second-straight three-set sweep for the Saints, taking down Geneva, 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-22). 

In the first, several runs put away the set early, including an 8-2 run to start it off. Sophomore Raymond Tarasi was a big part of that stretch, landing a kill and two service aces. The Golden Tornadoes slowly battled their way back to just a three-point deficit, but another run by the Saints put them out ahead comfortably the rest of the way. Senior Joseph Zanelotti got the 6-1 stretch started with a kill and a service ace.

The last two sets both were close throughout, however, short bursts of offense by MU in the middle of each gave it enough momentum to earn the wins. In the second set, four-straight points separated the Saints to a 16-11 lead that wouldn't falter the rest of the way, eventually earning a two-point victory.

In the third set, a three-point stretch by Geneva got it within one at 23-22. A useful timeout by Marymount proved successful, coming out with back-to-back kills by senior Sam Safley and sophomore Miles Olson. 

Sophomore Jason Perkins led the offense in the first match with eight kills, while Safley and Olson added seven each. Zanelotti maintained the offensive flow with a match-high 24 kills, while sophomore Chris Manganiello dove out for 10 digs defensively. 

Match 2: Marymount 3, Alvernia 0

The Saints continued their dominance in the second match, grabbing another three-set victory over Alvernia, 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-15). 

Tarasi guided the offense in the evening match, laying down 12 kills on a .440 kill percentage. He was joined in double figures with Safley with 10 kills. 

The first and second set were close battles, as MU won both by just two points. Each had the Saints calling timeouts late with the Golden Wolves making runs, but the breaks were at perfect times. Leading by just one, 24-23, in the second, the Saints came out of the timeout for Tarasi to lay down a kill for the win. In the third, a tied match at 23-23 translated to a Wolves' service erroe and a block by Safley and Perkins to seal up the two-set victory.

The final game was all Marymount, registering an 8-1 run in the middle of the set and ending the match on a 7-1 stretch to take the win, 25-15.

Zannelotti commanded the offense with 32 more assists, while Manganiello added 12 more digs.

The Saints hit the road for their next match, traveling to Messiah College on Wednesday, January 22. Start time is set for 7 p.m.