January 12, 2024
An increased schedule for “First Friday” of the D3 Volleyball season has 10 matches on the original slate but we are already hearing about some potential cancellations as winter weather creeps through the Midwest. We were looking forward to seeing Carthage start their 2024 season against Lakeland this evening but that has been confirmed as a cancel due to inclement weather. Wisconsin Lutheran is also remaining at home this weekend and their quad with Wittenberg, St. John Fisher and Penn State Altoona is now a tri-match.
Let’s take a look at the games that were able to be played today and tonight…
Hobart faced off against Wells today to complete their visit at SUNY Potsdam. Hobart split yesterday, getting their first win in their first match against the host. They then took their first loss against Top 30 ranked Nichols in a very tight match. This one was not expected to be that close, but Andrew Kim was out of action for the Statesmen. The Express played well, especially in the first set where they took it to Hobart and came out with the win 25-23. Daniel Sapia and Anthony Zontini controlled the attack for the Statesmen the rest of the way, combining for 31 kills over 4 sets. Noah Delong had 26 assists and Zack Farren added 11 to quarterback the Hobart attack. We also saw some steady play from Grayson Getz for Hobart who hit .429 with 4 kills, 3 aces, 3 blocks, and 6 digs. Mason Moon orchestrated the Express attack and led the team with 26 assists, 10 digs and 3 aces. The Express looked improved after a rough session in 2023. Burrows, Johnson and Keena has 9, 7 and 7 kills respectively. The Express may be hindered this season by having a very short bench and just 10 players, but they played spirited volleyball today.
Jack Normandin snapped 12 kills and hit .556 and Carlos Mercado has 26 assists and 9 digs as #29 Nichols kept their perfect record alive at 3-0 on the young season with a straight set win over SUNY Poly.
Casey Goss had 11 kills, 8 digs and 3 aces for the Dominican Stars but they fell short of D2’s 9th ranked team Quincy in three sets. Senior Jarod Hesse had 9 kills and a block for the Stars and Owen Morrow added 23 assists. Dominican held very close to Quincy in all three sets and should fare better tomorrow when they face Fontbonne in St. Louis.
#7 Cal Lutheran slammed #18 UC Santa Cruz in three straight sets in the battle of D3 California. All 3 sets were very tightly played but Lutheran found a way to rally to get most of the late points in each set. Taylor Marks orchestrated the symphony for the Kingsmen spreading kills through 5 main targets. Jordan Cooper led the Kingsmen with 11 kills and Michael Stahl had 9. Borys Horiuk, Ben Weber, and Noah Rigo added 7, 5, and 4 respectively.
Concordia Irvine, the #5 D2 team in the nation, hosted Springfield Friday night at the Nest. Concordia left no doubt as to who the better team was tonight as they swept the Pride. Springfield really struggled on the attack, hitting .115, .000, and -.000 in the three sets. Springfield will stay in California for three “Exhibition” scrimmages against Hope, Vanguard, and Orange Coast before returning home to face Emmanuel at home on the 18th.
#12 Vassar took down #44 Adrian in straight sets at the Cal Lutheran Invitational. Vassar looked a little flat in the opening two sets, especially compared to last year’s dominance, but picked up the pace in the third against a solid Adrian team with multiple weapons. Setter Jacob Kim, who looks to be sliding into a hitting role in a 6-2, had 11 kills and hit .529 to lead the Brewers attack. AJ Erickson led Vassar with 10 assists. Chase Heuer had 10 kills for Adrian.
Big schedule tomorrow!! Stay tuned as many teams play their openers…
IH