The Culver-Stockton College men's volleyball team began the 2024 campaign with two matches at the Heart of America Challenge hosted by Missouri Baptist University and the University of Health Science and Pharmacy in St. Louis, Mo.

Playing at Missouri Baptist's Petty Center Friday, the Wildcats opened their season with a 25-21, 25-19, 25-19 defeat to Calumet (Ind.) College.

C-SC started strong in the opening set with a .317 hitting percentage, committing just five errors on 32 attempts and recording 15 kills. However, the Wildcats faltered in the following two sets, registering just 14 kills combined on 51 attempts and ending with a hitting percentage .193.

Malachi Gnade paced the Wildcat attack with 12 kills and a .308 hitting percentage. Gnade committed just four errors on 26 attempts in the match. Jacob Todd added seven terminations while Zach Kowalewicz garnered five kills.

Owen Randle totaled 18 set assists to lead the Wildcats. Todd, Gnade and Wyatt McCulloch all had two service aces.

Defensively, Gnade tallied a team-high seven dogs and McCulloch had six digs. Todd totaled three block assists while Gnade had one solo block and one block assist.

Against Saint Ambrose, the Wildcats were not nearly as efficient at the net, recording 36 kills but committing 38 errors on 131 attempts for negative hitting percentage.

Gnade and Todd again led the way with 11 and nine kills, respectively, while Kowalewicz and Aaron Jurenka garnered six terminations each. Matt Reese and Randle combined for 30 set assists with Reese tabulating a team-best 17.

Defensively, Cikeng Lee topped the Wildcat back line with 10 digs while Jurenka totaled nine digs. Kowalewicz led all players at the net with three blocks.

The Wildcats are slated to conclude the weekend Saturday with two more matches to be played at the University of Health Science and Pharmacy. The Wildcats face Central Christian (Kan.) at noon and Kansas Wesleyan University at 2:30 p.m.