February 13, 2024
Winter weather reared its ugly head in many D3 regions today but to our surprise only three games were cancelled. Purchase at Baruch, Eastern at Kean, St. Elizabeth’s at NJCU were removed from today’s schedule. But 11 games were played, and we will now take a look at the outcomes and player performances.
NAIA’s Mount Mercy clashed with Simpson College tonight and took down their D3 foe in straight sets. Simpson could not get the attack going and ended up hitting negative for the match.
Adrian rolled over NAIA Sienna Heights with a 4-set victory to improve to 8-6 on the season. Siena tallied 27 overall attack errors compared to Adrians 15 and excelled in set three where they hit .500 and won the set. The rest of the match was all Adrian as Chase Heuer led the way on the attack with 15 kills and on defense with 10 digs. He led both teams in those categories on the night. Sam Landers had a great night for the Bulldogs posting 8 blocks.
Owen Morrow had 38 assists and three Stars posted double digit kills as Dominican swept North Park. Casey Goss led all attackers with 13 kills and Jarod Hesse and Aaron Marrs added 10. Tyler Vrska had 16 digs rebelling the North Park attackers. Dominican improved to 4-5. UC Santa Cruz comes to town Friday.
St. Norbert took down winless Wisconsin Lutheran in straight sets and picking up their first conference win of the season. Kaden Kornhaus, who set a school record last week for kills, led the SNC attack posting 15 kills, an ace and 7 digs.
E-town improved to 7-3 on the season downing Hood in straight sets, powered by a great performance by Nick Chapman. Chapman hit .600 while pounding 15 kills and 6 aces for the Blue Jays. Nate Seeger spread 30 assists and had 4 aces for the winners.
#64 Hiram will certainly get some higher consideration in the ranking algorithm this week after knocking off #31 Mount Union in straight sets. Kyle Martini with the big night for Hiram as he punched out 16 kills, hit .464, and added 5 digs and a block. Matt Albano had 32 assists, 2 aces, 9 digs and a block for the winners. The Mount Union duo of Jack McClure and Jacob Nussdorfer combined for 26 kills in a losing effort.
Wabash dropped to 7-3 after dropping a 3-setter to NAIA Trinity Christian. The Trolls were off to a tough start this season at 1-3 so the Wabash loss came as a surprise to us, especially with the Little Giants at home. BawiBawi Thang continues to show us some excellent volleyball. The freshman put down 11 kills in a losing effort.
Hilbert skimmed past Houghton tonight in three tight sets. Brad Converse was outstanding tonight for Hilbert jamming 16 kills, hitting .600, and adding 2 aces, and 11 digs. Ty Hassell hit .471 with 9 kills and Austin Chandler had 32 assists and 9 digs.
Chatham lifted 56 digs tonight as they fend off Warren Wilson in 4 sets. Luis Carrasquillo had 14 of the 56 and Ben Shelestak had 13 as well as 16 kills, and 3 aces. It’s Chatham third win against new teams starting in 2024.
Concordia Wisconsin took it to Illinois Wesleyan tonight in 4 sets. After a close 2 sets, CUW turned up the heat and overpowered IWU 25-15 in both sets 3 and 4. Spencer Herman with 21 kills, Logan Kebisek with 45 assists, and Lucas Beres with 9 kills and no attack errors, all contribute to the win. Tate Miller and Parker Pearson also had strong performances, Miller with 11 kills and 10 digs, and Pearson lifting 11 digs. CUW is now 3-5 while IWU dropped to 7-5.
PLAYER OF THE NIGHT
Nick Chapman of Elizabethtown gets the nod tonight after a fantastic performance against Hood tonight. The 6′ 3″ senior is having the best season of his career with per set improvements in almost all statistical categories for the Blue Jays. Great job Nick!!!
