No. 9 UC Santa Barbara just keeps winning, sweeping No. 3 BYU for the second straight night in Peterson gym. Cross-town rivals UC Irvine and USC had quite a battle as well, with No. 4 UC Irvine recovering from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the resurgent No. 15 Trojans. Recaps follow from those and all of the other NCAA men’s volleyball action around the country, but first Monday’s schedule.
There’s a rematch Sunday when No. 6 Stanford of the MPSF plays at No. 2 Hawai’i of the Big West.
Two MIVA teams are in action as McKendree goes to Alderson Broaddus and Quincy goes to Lourdes.
The EIVA and Conference Carolinas are off Sunday.
UCSB (9-3) of the Big West dropped BYU (4-2) of the MPSF for the second straight evening 25-15, 25-16, 27-25. Santa Barbara’s offense powered to a .443 kill percentage, while BYU managed only .253.
“This was a very fun match,” said UCSB head coach Rick McLaughlin. “Our guys are competing well and we are a different team than we were a month ago due to their hard work. We look forward to playing two good teams next week.”
The Gauchos were led by Corey Chavers and Ryan Wilcox, who scored 16 and 14 kills respectively. Chavers also added an assist, three aces and four digs while hitting .312. Wilcox contributed an ace and seven digs for a .667 percentage. BYU’s Gabi Garcia Fernandez was the only Cougar in double digit kills, scoring 13 with two aces, six digs and a block.
UC Irvine (11-2) recovered from a 2-1 deficit against USC (6-4) to win 25-20, 25-27, 19-25, 25-23, 15-10 at the Bren Center. The Anteaters hit .306 to the Trojans’ .303, outscoring them 79 to 73 in total points.
“We’ve played an intense schedule.” Irvine head coach David Kniffin said. “When you squeeze an orange, you expect to get orange juice. I definitely pressed with our schedule. I was curious what would come out. This is important to know. If we are going to talk about championships. Then, when we are pressed, we better see championship qualities. I saw some of that tonight.
“To play two matches yesterday in a different state, fly in today for a home match, then go five with an iconic team like USC and pull out a win in front of our 2009 squad that was in attendance tonight was about as good of closure for the month as I could have asked for.”
Irvine’s balanced attack had four players in double-digit kills as Karl Apfelbach had 19, Aaron Koubi 14, Joel Schneidmiller 13, and Scott Stadick 11. USC had three players in double digits as Ryan Moss led with 18 kills while Jack Wyett had 16 and Gianluca Grasso 12.
No. 5 UCLA (8-2) defeated No. 10 Lewis (7-4) on their midwest swing 18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-20. Dylan Missry hit a season-best 18 kills to lead the Bruins while contributing six digs, an assist, and two aces. Micah Ma’a set his team to a .336 hitting percentage, with six kills, an ace, and 1.5 blocks. Ryan Coenen led the Flyers with 12 kills, three digs, and 1.5 blocks.
Grand Canyon (7-5) defeated Charleston (3-7, 0-2) of the EIVA 25-17, 25-16, 25-20 for the second sweep of the season. GCU ran a balanced attack, with Christian Janke leading with 10 kills, Jack Burton and Will Schwob with nine each, and Kyle Thompson with seven. Charleston’s Adriel Roberts, Maarten Bartels, Max Senica and Lachlan Bray had five kills apiece for the Golden Eagles.
Top-ranked Long Beach State of the Big West rolled to 8-0 with a sweep of the MIVA’s Lindenwood (2-6) 25-19, 25-17, 25-19, hitting a season-high .514 as a team while holding Lindenwood to .203. The 49ers scored 44 kills to the Lions’ 28 while only commiting six errors to 13 for their opponents. USA national team member TJ DeFalco led his squad with 13 kills, two aces, and two blocks.
UC San Diego (5-6) swept Division III UC Santa Cruz (6-7) 25-22, 25-18, 25-22. Wyatt Harrison again led the Tritons with 14 kills, an ace, four digs and a block. The Banana Slugs’ Jacob Shapiro had nine kills, an ace, four digs and a block.
In the MIVA, Purdue Fort Wayne (6-4, 0-0) defeated the EIVA’s Harvard (1-6, 1-0) 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-16 in Cambridge. Michael Keegan set the Mastodons to a .390 percentage while amassing 44 assists, seven digs, a career-high six kills and a block. Despite the loss, Matt Ctvrtlik set the Crimson to a .367 percentage while contributing 42 assists, three kills, nine digs, and a block.
No. 11 Ball State (6-4) defeated Sacred Heart of the EIVA (1-5) 25-17, 25-21, 16-25, 25-15 for the Cardinals’ fourth straight win. Matt Szews had 19 points for the Cardinals on 15 kills, an ace and three blocks, while Kaleb Jenness followed with 13 kills, an assist, two aces, a block and 11 digs. Sacred Heart’s Emerson Waumans had a match-high 16 kills plus two blocks.
No. 14 Ohio State (4-5) rebounded with a four-set 25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23 win over Lincoln Memorial (5-3). Blake Leeson hit .857, with 12 kills in 14 attempts and no errors, his second match over the .800 mark. Lincoln Memorial was led by Evan Cory, who hit .354 on 21 kills with four errors in 48 attempts.
No. 7 Loyola (7-3) defeated the EIVA’s Penn State (4-4, 1-0) in four sets on Saturday afternoon 21-25, 25-16, 31-29, 27-25. Ramblers setter Garrett Zolg had a personal best 57 assists in the match, while Collin Mahan had his own career-best 24 kills. The Nittany Lions’ Jason Donorovich and Henrik Falck Lauten led with 11 kills apiece, Donorovich also adding an ace, three blocks and four digs, while Falck Lauten contributed an assist, ten digs and two blocks.
Lindenwood (4-6) picked up a pair of wins today, defeating Alderson Broaddus (0-7) 25-21, 25-20, 25-6 and Lourdes of the WHACÂ (4-2) 25-22, 25-15, 18-25, 25-18 at the Lindenwood Invitational. Phil Swartz led the Lions against Alderson Broaddus with eight kills, four aces and six blocks, while Charley Hlavin was top scorer against the Gray Wolves with 12 kills, six blocks and six digs.
Quincy (4-5) defeated Alderson Broaddus (0-7) 25-14, 25-18, 26-24. The Hawks hit .259 to the Battlers’ -.013. Omari Wheeler led Quincy with 15 kills, an assist, three aces and a block. Cameron Snaden led Alderson Broaddus with 13 kills and a block.
In the Conference Carolinas, North Greenville (6-4, 3-1) snapped Barton College‘s (6-3, 3-1) six match winning streak with a five-set 18-25, 25-22, 25-21, 18-25, 15-12 win, giving the Bulldogs for their first conference loss. Jackson Gilbert paced the Crusaders with 20 kills, an ace, four digs, and a block. Barton’s Vasilis Mandilaris led all attackers with 21 kills, two assists, six aces and a block assist.
King (4-4, 3-1) defeated Emmanuel (4-6, 1-4) 25-20, 25-19, 20-25, 25-14 as the Tornado’s Sean Kohlhase had a career-high 24 kills while adding six digs and three blocks. Emmanuel’s Don Thompson wasn’t far behind with 22 kills for the Lions, with Aleksa Lakic following with 11.
Mount Olive (3-5, 3-1) got a four-set road win at Limestone (2-5, 1-2) 19-25, 25-17, 28-26, 25-18. The Trojans’ Oluwatobi Azeez scored a match-high 16 kills, adding an assist, an ace, two digs and 2.5 blocks. Geraldo Rivera led Limestone with 14 kills, an assist and 11 digs.
Erskine (4-7, 3-2) defeated Lees-McRae (1-7, 0-5) in four sets 25-16, 25-23, 15-25, 25-16. Griffin Spence scored 20 kills for the Flying Fleet, while Josh Arrowood followed with eight and Lancy Aldebol with seven. The Bobcats were led by Hector Serviat and Drew Sims, who had nine kills each.
