March 8, 2024
Let’s take a look at some of the other matches before we jump into some of the featured matches from the California Tournament hosted by Cal Lutheran.
Randolph Macon visited Arcadia today and came away with a straight set win over the Knights. Kody Rogan is having an excellent season playing in the 6-2 set up and has thrived as a setter, hitter, and server. He contributed 17 assists, 6 kills, and 4 digs in the win while Phil Van Essen and Ian Wagenhauser had 8 and 7 kills respectively. In a very unlikely coincidence, Van Essen and Wagenhauser also had 8 and 7 blocks respectively. Great performances by both players. Andrew Ahn of Arcadia led all players with 12 kills. RMC is now 9-7 and Arcadia fell to 10-7 overall for the year.
Nichols continued their outstanding season with a straight set win over Emerson tonight. Dylan Knapp had 10 kills and hit .714 while Jack Normandin posted 9 kills and hit .533. Theo Hackett led the Emerson attack and registered 12 kills. Nichols resumes its NEVC schedule next Saturday. They are 17-4 overall, 3-0 in the NEVC, and an almost certain conference winner based on their dominant season thus far.
Matt Albano had 38 assists and added 12 digs, 3 kills, and an ace as Hiram knocked off Olivet in 4 sets. Jackson Deubner (13 kills, 5 blocks) and Connor Tilton (11 kills, 10 digs) with big nights for the Terriers. Everett Haynes led the charge for Olivet posting 11 kills, 13 digs, and 2 blocks while Quinn Dickerson had 13 kills and an ace in a losing cause. Olivet ended up splitting for the day as they took down St. Norbert 3-1, powered by a 26-kill performance from Dickerson. The Olivet defensive corp. was on fire with Will Mensching lifting 15 digs and Everett Haynes posting 14.
Roanoke got the entire roster involved as they steamrolled past Warren Wilson tonight in straight sets. The Maroons are gearing up for the remainder of their CVC schedule in what looks like a battle for the bottom 2 spots to qualify.
It was awesome to see Owen Wickens back on the floor as he returns from injury in a limited capacity. We thought he may not return this season after a brutal ankle injury shown below. But we credit his conditioning to be back on the floor in just 17 days. Nazareth hung tough with Juniata in all three sets, but the Eagles swept 3-0. Luke Hoffman had 11 kills on 13 swings, 7 blocks, and hit .846 while Tyler Goldsborough notched 12 kills on 23 attempts.
Hunter wanted to have a high-level match before facing Baruch on Tuesday in their big CUNYAC battle and Rutgers provided the test tonight at the Golden Dome. Rutgers overmatched the Hawks most of the night and cruised to a 3-0 straight set win. Martin Chromulak had 10 kills and Aleks Kolodziej added 5. The Raiders host Messiah tomorrow.
Endicott outdueled Buffalo State in 4 sets as Dean Warner and Aidan Iocovelli each smashed 8 kills. Gavin Wilczewski of the Bengals had 14 kills, leading all players.
Switching over to the California invite tournament… Wentworth was today’s big winner posting victories over Marymount (3-0) and Cal Lutheran (3-1). Cal Lutheran split their matches and enjoyed a lopsided 3-0 win over the country’s winningest team St. John Fisher. UC Santa Cruz slipped by Baldwin Wallace in straight sets.
Wentworth looked dominant in most of their sets. Jacob LaBouliere did not play in the fourth set against Cal Lutheran. He did not appear to be hurt but we did catch him stretching on the sidelines so the long day may have produced some leg cramping. Total speculation on our part.
LaBou looked smooth against Marymount posting 11 kills on 21 swings, along with 3 digs and 3 blocks. Jacob Waga had 10 kills against Marymount and Josh Milke put up 24 assists and added 43 in the night cap against Cal Lut. LaBouliere had 12 kills and hit .526 against the Kingsmen but Jacob Waga carried the load with 25 opportunities and 13 kills. Cal Lutheran dominated their earlier match with SJF. Maybe the long trip got to the Cards a bit as they could not get things ramped up on the attack. Taylor Marks notched 32 assists and Jordan Cooper had 12 kills and no attack errors while hitting .571 to launch the Kingsmen attack.
UCSC had a solid showing in their match with BW. Nico Espinoza led the Banana Slugs with 11 kills and Kyle Ownbey added 9. Both Ethan Makishima and Riley Norman had 6 blocks each. Michael Beard was outstanding for the Yellow Jackets, posting 14 kills and an ace while Brandon Long provided 35 assists and 9 digs for Baldwin Wallace.
Aurora got a big performance from Josh McLellan tonight as he crashed 22 kills and 3 blocks to help upend Rivier in 4 sets. Ryder Kelley had 45 assists, 5 digs, and 2 aces for the Spartans as they improve to 7-8. Rivier’s Soku Ly posted 21 kills and 6 digs for the Raiders.
The Cali tournament continues tomorrow with some big feature matches including UCSC vs. Wentworth and Cal Lutheran vs. Marymount. Also, on the slate tomorrow in big matches across the nation are Loras at NCC, a tri-match between Stevenson, Lasell, and Stevens, SUNY New Paltz at Hobart, Messiah at Rutgers, and Lancaster Bible visiting #1 SVU.
Accolades
Senior outside hitter, Michael Eastman crossed 800 kills, 100 aces, and is close to 1,000 points in his senior season for Illinois Wesleyan. The program is just in its 4th year, and the Titans only played 17 matches due to COVID when it was an all-freshmen team in 2021. Considering the CCIW is one of the strongest conferences in D3, the 6’2 outside has put up some impressive career numbers. He has also been named captain in all four years. Awesome job Michael.
Player of the Night
What a superb night for Quinn Dickerson of Olivet. In two matches, he was spectacular on the attack for the Comets. The senior Dickerson is a force at 6′ 4″ and 210 pounds, and it showed tonight as he earns the best player of the night as voted by the IH Staff. Congrats #10!
