VBelo Daily: April 17, 2025

And the first spot in the NCAA Tournament belongs to the Fort Valley State Wildcats!

Wildcat Back-to-Back! (FVSU Athletics)

I wrote more about Fort Valley over on the weekly VBelo Report this week. Regardless, congratulations on returning to the big dance two years in a row! The Wildcats are setting the standard for the SIAC right now.

Yesterday's Scores

SIAC

🏆Championship Match🏆

Fort Valley State (84%) def. Edward Waters (16%)
3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-16, 25-21)

Isaiah Fedd has been HIM all season for the Wildcats, and yesterday was no exception. He finished with 18 kills and a .452% hitting percentage.

Third Place Match

Central State (46%) def. Benedict (54%)
3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 25-23)

Fifth Place Match

Morehouse (46%) def. LeMoyne-Owen (54%)
3-2 (21-25, 18-25, 25-20, 26-24, 15-12)

ConfCarolinas

Quarterfinals

North Greenville (78%) def. Erskine (22%)
3-1 (22-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-20)

NGU was out-blocked the Flying Fleet 12-4, but that still wasn’t enough to hold them back. North Greenville will face Mount Olive in the semifinals.

Barton (88%) def. King (12%)
3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-19)

Barton hit a strong .345% on their way to the sweep. They will face Belmont Abbey in the semifinals.

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Today's Match Projections

Big West

#9 CSUN (22%) vs #4 UC Irvine (78%)

This feels like a must win match for both teams. Huge implications for the Big West tournament, but also for potential at-large bids.

MPSF

#13 Grand Canyon (55%) vs #11 Stanford (45%)

#5 Southern California (14%) vs #2 UCLA (86%)

Whoever wrote the script for this season did an amazing job scheduling these two teams at the end of the regular season. The real question is will everyone play or will there be some strategic load balancing?