January 18, 2024
We started tonight with anew article and interview of Matt Slivinski, the former Carthage player, turned pro, and playing at the highest level in Germany. He opened our eyes on many topics and discussed the grueling schedule with its dramatic highs and equally as dramatic lows. Check it out at this link… Former D3 Star Matt Slivinski Thriving as Pro in Germany – InsideHitter.com
Less than ten matches on the schedule tonight as most teams gear up for their opening weekend. There are two marquis matchups though… the first being North Central against Dominican, and we were excited to watch Stevenson host Marymount.
Springfield cruised past Emmanuel giving the Pride their first win of the season after dropping a close match to D2 Concordia Irvine in California. Getting home to Massachusetts and D3 play was the right recipe as they cruised past Emmanuel in straight sets. Freshman right side Sam Levinson packed some power on the attack for Springfield posting 11 kills and hitting .500 for the match. Sophomore Dylan Mulvaney picked up right where he left off last season serving up 32 assists, with an ace, 2 digs, and 3 kills. Evan Costly, Brennan Cutter, Chris Rouleau, and Ethan Walters all had 6 kills for the Pride.
Misericordia kept up their winning ways this season, rolling 18 different players, and cruising past Cairn in straight sets. The Cougars are now 3-0. Kyle Ganoe led the attack tonight for Mis with 5 kills, hitting .455. Jackson Fehnel and Ben Clendening also added 5 kills for the winners.
Max Bigileo was near perfect tonight for Eastern as he went 6 for 6 on the attack and added 6 aces for the Eagles as they downed Immaculata in straight sets. It was the Eagles first win of the season. Josiah Cash and Jarred Barch were also errorless on the attack adding and 3 kills respectively.
A. Garcia Fernandez and Delfy Soler combined for 28 kills as Eastern Nazarene rolled over Elms in straight sets. Jacob Zarges led the Lions with 9 digs and added 12 assists.
What a great match at Stevenson tonight as Marymount traveled to the Owings Mills Gym to take on the Mustangs. Stevenson jumped out of the gate and looked like they were going to sweep Marymount, taking a 2-0 lead in sets. Justin Novoa was spreading the offense beautifully between Tim Flanagan, Ryan Thennell, Anthony Pezzino and Aidan O’Brien. The third set was similar but with Marymount leading 15-13, The Mustangs had a few errors and lost 6 of the next 9 points and the momentum shift was complete. But the fourth set was an amazing battle of back and forth leads. Tim Flanagan of Stevenson was just outstanding in set 4 and he was trying to will the victory to the Mustangs posting 10 kills in the set. His last kill gave Stevenson a 24-22 lead with the set there for the taking. but the last 4 points were all Marymount, fending off set point and winning 26-24 on a Diego Pena kill. After the letdown, Marymount built leads of 7-1 and 11-3 in the fifth before taking the last set after a Stevenson charge 15-10. Great match from two resilient teams. Diego Pena ended the match with 20 kills and Will Wright and Devon Robinson added 15 and 14. Joe Crowder posted 46 assists for the winners. Novoa had 50 for Stevenson.
The Dominican vs North Central game turns out to be one of the statement games of the season thus far. The math has North Central imbedded in the top 10 and one of the best teams in the nation and also shows Dominican as un an up-and-coming team on the fringe of the top 25. The math did not play out tonight as Dominican rockets past NCC in straight sets. I will repeat that for those who didn’t get it the first time… Dominican rockets past NCC in straight sets! We expected to be talking about Jared Moser, Luke Schmidt, Tyler Donovan and Austin Scott. But instead, tonight, we will focus on the Dominican Stars. Jarod Hesse, Owen Marrow, Aaron Marrs, Grant Henderson, and Casey Goss were the stars tonight. Hesse posted 16 kills and just one attack error and adding 4 blocks and 6 digs. Marrow orchestrated a perfect game with 34 assists and 8 digs. Casey Goss hits .367 and smashed 14 kills. Grant Henderson lifting 11 digs on the back row. And Aaron Marrs with 9 kills and 3 digs. Spectacular performance by Dominican on their home court who improve to 2-2 overall, and 2-0 at D3.
We spoke with Casey Goss after the win tonight and he was beyond excited. “We went in with the same attitude we brought to Carthage last season. If we play our style of volleyball, we can give very good teams problems.” Last season, the Stars surprised Carthage with a 3-1 win in a white-out game at Home. “Just as much credit goes to our fans” Casey added. “The Igini remains the top place to play in the Country!”
In other games, Wisconsin Stevens Point opened with their first win as a new program, a five-set thriller over Lakeland. Augustana cruised over Concordia Chicago to get their first win of the season. And IIT dropped a straight set loss to Maryville of the NAIA.
28 matches on the schedule for Friday including NYU vs. UCSC, Lasell vs. Nazareth, and Juniata vs. St. John Fisher.
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