January 16, 2024
Hopefully, everyone enjoyed some rest over the past two days as bootcamps wind down and the season routine kicks in. Most players are back to school this week and the balancing act becomes center stage. Prior to tonight, we still have 86 teams that have yet to hit the floor and open their seasons. We have a lot to look forward to in these next two weeks as we get to see the new season start to unfold for many teams in the nation.
Not many teams start the season with a league game but Elms and Lasell defied that logic when they took the floor tonight. Loved to see Lasell roll the roster getting 17 players involved in a straight set win. 9 different players had kills for the Lasers. A big surprise for us was seeing all-world libero Collin Liedke for Elms at setter. Elms had a challenging night trying to muster an attack and was limited to 11 kills for the match. We spoke with Collin tonight and he confirmed that he will be setting this season for the Blazers. A task we are sure he will excel at. He was impressed by the Lasers and shared “It’s always tough to start the season facing a team like Lasell. The Lasers were very impressive as they have been the last few seasons, offensively and defensively, very, very strong!”
We expect Lasell to be a major player this season and in the top 10 as the season progresses. Despite so many players getting a chance tonight, the Lasers committed just 4 attack errors for the match. Noting some nice performances by Theo Zaharewicz with 7 kills and hitting .500 and 10 kills from Dexter Thomas who hit .692.
Good character builder for Cal Lutheran tonight as they traveled to D1 Cal State Northridge. Northridge cruised through the first two sets, but the Kingsmen kept it super tight in set 3, and just missed a bic wide that could have sent them into extra time, but they fell 25-23. Taylor Marks was held to 14 assists and middle Borys Horiuk was the only Kingsmen to hit positive.
Trine had a respectable showing against the #14 D1 team in the nation, Ball State. They kept in close for most of the three sets. Ball State sophomore outside hitter Ryan Bartz was lights out for the Cardinals, hitting .882 with 16 kills on 17 attempts. Trine was led by Nick Woolley who posted 18 assists, 4 digs, a block and an ace. Ted Hofmeister and Ho’okano-Pelakai Johnson-Kuhao had 7 kills each for the Thunder.
Carlow and Geneva opened their seasons tonight. Trying to get preseason info for these two squads was harder than chipping the ice off my car this morning. Hard!! But now that their match has been played, I am not sure if we have much more insights on where they will land in the first computer ratings. Geneva lost a ton of stats to graduation but have a nice freshman class recruited. Carlow had a challenging season in 23 but has also added some new talent. Geneva won in straight sets, but every set was very close (29-27, 25-22, 26-24). Andrew Ubinger had 11 kills, 2 aces, and 5 digs and hit .281 for the Golden Tornados. Owen Kelley also had 10 kills and Carter Milroy had 9. Decker Milroy had 29 assists for the winners. Carlow was led by Russ Cyprowski who had 13 kills and 5 digs while Will Piccolino had 12 digs and 8 kills.
The Wilkes at Eastern match was postponed due to weather conditions. The Averett/Southern Virginia match scheduled for today was also cancelled per SVU’s website.
Just two games on the Wednesday night schedule this week… Virginia Wesleyan will host Roanoke and Thiel hosts St. Norbert.
Last weeks IH Awards can be seen at this link… Weekly IH Awards – InsideHitter.com
The Preseason ratings continue to provide validity thus far with no losses through thirty-four D3 matches.
IH