Some significant games that impact the top 40 have taken place over the last two nights and we would like to dive in and evaluate the results of these matches. Wednesday was a full night on the schedule, but several games stood out in this category.
North Central vs Carthage: What a great show these two top teams in the CCIW and in the country put on Wednesday night in Naperville. Our algorithm keeps pushing Carthage higher despite 5 losses in their season record. Their early season tirade of games against top-flight opponents is starting to reap dividends for the Firebirds. NCC entered the match at 11-2 and ended the match with one more loss after Carthage charged back on the round to pull off a reverse sweep and a 16-14 final set win. Carthage relied on the hammer of Ben Heise to drive the comeback as well as the high-end performance of Gene McNulty at the helm of the offensive attack at setter. Heise hit .472 with 21 kills and McNulty put up 46 assists and 5 digs. Owen Otto and Keegan Brumitt had big matches on the attack and on D. Carthage is now 1-1 in the CCIW after losing to Loras. NCC is also 1-1 in conference play. This leaves Loras in the early season driving seat to control their own domain and get home court advantage for the conference tournament. But there is a lot of volleyball to play before that is decided. (A quick side note: Carthage and NCC played 30 players during the 5 sets, kudos to both Coach Exline and Kieckhefer for getting everyone involved.)
Loras continued to hammer opponents and improved to 13-0 with a straight set dominant win over Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington. Corey Mayotte has been so impressive this season and Wednesday was no different as he chalked up another 11 kills to lead the Duhawks. But he also hit a whopping .786 with no attack errors. Dorian Fiorenza, the other half of the DuHawk Dynamic Duo, had 10 kills and 3 blocks while Roman Rothermel and Sean Wenzel each put up 6 blocks each.
St. John Fisher has been a powerhouse this season amassing 18 wins over 19 games. So, a match against a brand-new squad for 2024 in Hobart would have shown as a lopsided win during preseason review. But we now know that Hobart is not just a one-dimensional team driven by the high-level talent of former Vassar star Andrew Kim. The emergence of Danial Sappia, Zack Farren, and Gavin Meador to name a few, have taken the stress off of Kim. Andrew was fed 67 times and had 30 kills for the Statesmen, but they fell just short against the Cardinals in 5 sets. It was a great match that revealed that the Cardinals can be scrappy and battle to the finish and it also reveals Hobart as a team to watch come UVC conference playoffs.
Nichols has had a feisty presence all season coupled with great results. They stepped into the ring against perennial nemesis Springfield and the fans were treated to 5 tight sets of outstanding volleyball. The Pride outlasted the Bison on Wednesday with set 5 going 18-16. Nichols is clearly a contender come NCAA playoff time and Springfield has almost certainly secured its ticket to the show already. The Normandin/Soracco attack pairing matched up nicely with the Pride offensive trio of Costly, Rouleau, and Levinson. The Pride defensive crew out dug the Bison back row 46-34. Great match. Great teams.
Lastly for Wednesday, SUNY New Paltz appears to be getting their season revved up while Misericordia’s early season prowess has slipped just a bit. The Hawks have won 7 of their last 8 matches with the only loss being to Stevens. The Cougars started off 4-0 but have now lost 2 of their last 3. The surprise tonight was the ease that New Paltz had in winning over three sets. Always tough to travel to the Hawks Nest and come away with a win, especially after traveling large distances. Both these teams are solid but probably will end up slightly outside the top 15 when the dust settles.
Turning to Thursday’s match-ups…
The highlight game of the night was #1 Southern Virginia traveling to Rochester to take on Nazareth. SVU kept their streak alive and still have not lost a set this season as they take down the Golden Flyers 3-0. Christian Sheaffer was just unstoppable tonight as the Knights went on several big scoring streaks during the 3 sets. At 9-8 in the first set SVU reeled off 12 of the next 16 points and won 25-16. SVU launched to a 10-2 lead in set 2, before taking the set 25-16. Set three was much the same with SVU securing leads of 9-5, 15-9, and 21-12 before winning 25-14. Sheaffer had 22 kills on 29 attempts with no attack errors. Tyler Sheaffer posted 35 assists. The dominant thrashing did have one shadow with Owen Wickens out of the lineup indefinitely for Nazareth. SVU faces Hobart tomorrow and then a back-to-back matchup Saturday against Vassar and St. John Fisher. A massive test for #1 and we will see if they can prevail with three more wins and solidify their ranking as the nations top team.
Casey Goss had 16 kills and Jarod Hesse added 14 as Dominican outlasted Aurora in 5 sets. Owen Morrow had a huge night with 58 assists and 9 digs for the Stars, Dominican improved to 8-6 and are showing signs of creeping back into the rankings. We caught up with Casey Goss and asked how he thinks his team will end up the rankings. He told us “Right now, the team is focused on our conference. We’re pumped to be in the national rankings, but we try to keep the blinders on. One match at a time.” He also said… “The most exciting thing to come out of the last few matches is getting to see our depth. All 18 are itching to go leave their mark on each match and that’s the mentality we go into each game day with.” The Stars remain a team to watch as the season progresses.
Player of the Night
Christian Sheaffer is tonight’s honoree. A massive game against Nazareth. The 6’6″ senior outside is the cream of the crop. Good luck this weekend Christian!
