Benedictine Mesa showed grit, energy, and stretches of dominant play, but the Redhawks ultimately fell to Westcliff in a tight three-set match on Monday. Despite strong performances from Rylon Raczka, Raphael Mkpegue, and setter John Jakaitis, BENU could not overcome late-set surges from the Warriors, dropping the match 25–21, 26–24, 25–21. SET 1: 
Benedictine Mesa opened the match with impressive momentum, jumping out to a 5–3 lead behind early kills from Raphael Mkpegue and a block from Joseph Washington and Ethan Russel. A pair of service errors from Westcliff kept BENU in front, and a service ace from Russel later tied the set at 15–15.

After battling point-for-point, BENU briefly took an 18–17 lead on a Raczka kill, but Westcliff responded with a run fueled by Rodolfo Biegelmeyer and M'hamed Mifdal. The Warriors closed strong, scoring six of the final nine points to take the opening set 25–21. SET 2: 
Set two delivered one of BENU's most competitive frames of the season.

After falling behind early, the Redhawks clawed back behind a spark off the bench from Carson Lee, who entered and immediately put down a kill to tie the set 3–3. The middle portion of the frame became a trading-blows stretch, with Raczka, Washington, and Mkpegue each delivering high-impact swings.

BENU grabbed a 21–18 lead after a block error forced by Jensen and another strong Raczka swing. But Westcliff answered with a late three-point run and capitalized on a service ace to tie the match at 21–21.
The Redhawks forced extra points after a clutch kill from Raczka to tie it at 24–24, but Westcliff closed it out 26–24 on consecutive points from Mifdal and Kalagasidis, taking a tight 2–0 match lead. SET 3: 
Benedictine Mesa opened the third set on fire. A trio of early kills from Raczka and Mkpegue put the Redhawks ahead 3–0, and BENU continued to control the opening phase, stretching the lead to 9–5 behind back-to-back blocks by Washington and Raczka.

However, Westcliff found momentum behind Gabriel Pizza and the steady setting of Nikos Kalagasidis. The Warriors stormed back to tie the set at 12–12 and eventually pushed ahead 18–15 after a string of kills.

BENU fought to the end—Raczka and Jensen combining for multiple late kills to pull within one—but Westcliff finished the match with a 6–3 run to take the final set 25–21.
 
Key Players:

• Rylon Raczka: 15 kills, 2 blocks, 1 dig
• John Jakaitis: 32 assists, 4 kills, 4 digs
• Raphael Mkpegue: 7 kills, 1 block

 
Looking Ahead: The Redhawks are back on the court on Friday, February 27^th  as they take on Park Gilbert at home.