March 15, 2024
Beware the Ides of March… we are still searching for the reason on how it will effect D3 Men’s volleyball… We checked all the rosters and could not find a “Brutus” registered for any team. So maybe we are clear…
The regular season feels like it is winding down and spring breaks have slowed the schedule a bit. This week has provided a manageable amount of matches each night. Even for a Friday, we are looking at less than 20 games. We will cover those as well as a few standout games to note from the past two days.
Stevens was near perfect in their execution tonight as they bombed Arcadia on the Knight’s home court in straight sets 3-0. The Ducks outscored the Knights 75-42 for the match as Arcadia was shut down on the attack and yielded a negative hitting percentage. Stevens played the second set without an attack error hitting .824. Louden Moran posted 27 assists, 11 digs, 3 blocks, 3 kills, and an ace in a spectacular performance. Nate Lancia had 7 kills, no attack errors and hit .700. Tyler Hoke had 5 blocks and added 7 kills while Koby Sherman tallied 9 kills and 5 blocks as well. Connor Feulner was equally as impressive with 8 kills, 9 digs, 3 blocks, and a .583 hit percentage. The Knights are now 23-1 and have strung together a 20-game win streak.
It was February 21 when Owen Wickens left a match with St. John Fisher with a lower body injury that caused him to miss three weeks of action. Tonight, the two teams matched up again in a UVC conference battle in Rochester. Owen was back at outside hitter, but Naz still fell short of the Cardinals. SJF improved to 22-3 and seems a likely candidate to gain access to the NCAA championship tourney, even if they fail in the year end UVC tournament. The Golden Flyers will need a major upset and a UVC Conference tournament win to advance to the show after losing 6 of 10 games when Wickens was sidelined. Griffin Stella had a grand performance against Nazareth. Griffin posted 8 kills, no attack errors, 6 blocks, and 3 digs while hitting .667 against the Golden Flyers. The 6’2″ senior is having another great season.
Aurora knocked off Saint Norbert tonight in a wild 5-set match in DePere, Wisconsin. Josh McLellan of Aurora was fed 47 times over 5 sets and produced 24 kills to pace the Spartans. Luke Dwyer had 46 assists and 15 digs for the winners.
Five Players combined for 71 kills as Regis upsets Wilkes in 5 sets tonight. The fifth set was settled at 15-12 in favor of The Pride. Joe Perez, John Nagle, Brandon Valdes, Andrew Matzouranos, and Eddie Djatcha posted some monster numbers on the attack leading Regis to the win. Tyrell Bucasas had 44 assists and 13 digs. Regis had 20+ kills in two sets that went to extra time. Jackson Shafer had 27 kills to lead Wilkes and Zach Shay provided 56 assists and 13 digs as the Colonels dropped to 13-6.
In another major upset, UW-Steven’s Point took down MSOE tonight in 5 sets. Andy Sanchez had 21 digs and Josh Brogren had 32 assists for the Setters. The Setters are in their inaugural season and have wreaked havoc for many opponents as they notch their 10th win. Zach Meyers had 16 kills and 10 digs while Dylan Niznik slammed 11 kills and lifted 12 digs for UWSP. Steven’s Point improved to 10-7. The Raiders had creeped into the top 25 in the latest IH ranking based on their strength of schedule and winning record. This was the best win of the season for the Setters!!!
Michael Yurk continues being a one-man wrecking crew for Wittenberg. The Tigers downed Mount Union tonight in three tight sets. Michael is closing in on 250 kills for the season. The 6’4″ sophomore from Bishop Chatard in Indianapolis seems to get better and better in each match. This is the Tigers 4th win in 5 matches and they are home tomorrow to face Baldwin Wallace.
In yet another 5-set encounter on this Friday night, North Park outlasted Virginia Wesleyan 3-2. Ty Ingrao slammed 21 kills for the winners, hitting .366 and adding 5 digs. Pablo Ocasio, Parker Payne, and Vicente Cabrera each had 10 kills for North Park. Sam Robinson had 7 blocks and 9 kills for the Vikings. It’s been a tough yar in the CCIW as North Park earns its 6th win of the season.
Nate McGhee had 9 kills and hit .563 to lead Eastern Mennonite to an important conference win over Elizabethtown. The last spots in the CVC tournament are up for grabs and will be decided in the next two week. McGhee also led all players with 8 digs.
Noting 9 of 19 games went 5 sets tonight, twice the average for full term matches.
CO-PLAYERS OF THE NIGHT
Pat Wing of SUNY New Paltz takes the other half of tonight’s honors with the Hawks putting down St. Joe’s Long Island 3-0. 24 kills over three sets is quite outstanding. But adding 13 digs and a block made his efforts even more spectacular.
Eastern Nazarene’s A. Garcia Fernandez slammed 31 kills, hit .462, and added 11 digs, 2 blocks, and 4 aces in the Lions 3-2 win over SUNY Poly. The 6’4″ senior from San Juan, Puerto Rico passed the 1,000 career kill mark tonight as well. Congrats Alejandro!
Wednesday night, NJCU upset St. Joe’s Long Island in 5 sets. After losing 7 of their first 8 games of the season, the Gothic Knights have won 11 of 12 including wins over Rutgers, St, Joe’s LI, & Manhattanville and have positioned themselves in the driver’s seat with a 9-0 conference record. Kudos to NJCU, their players and Coach Carlo Edra for this dramatic turnaround.