On Friday, I said the matches were pretty predictable. If there was an excitement index, it would have been at a 1 or 2 out of 10. Yesterday, the favorites still won a ton of matches but it felt like everyone wanted to go to Cinco Sets. We are talking excitement in the 8+ territory.
Of the 24 matches yesterday, 9 of them went the distance to a decisive 5th set! This includes 3 of the 4 Conference Carolinas matches, 2 of the 4 MIVA matches, and 2 of the 4 NEC matches. In just one day, we had 94 sets of volleyball. Incredible!
There are too many amazing performances to highlight them all, but I want to draw special attention to Daemen in the NEC. With their 5 set victory yesterday, they set a new season high for most points scored in a match in 2023. In total, they scored 125 points! Yes, that means that they averaged 25 points per set in 5 sets. Simply amazing and I love it so much.
We have a few days off from matches, but I wanted to leave you with the updated RPI rankings after this incredibly full weekend. There were some small movements in the top 10. Penn State jumped Long Beach for the number 3 spot. Ohio moved up one spot to 9 while Concordia fell to number 13. Rounding out the top 10, we have the Cinderella story of the season, Charleston, up from number 12.
In case you forgot, I’m not a fan of RPI. I only bring it up because the NCAA still uses it for tournament consideration. If you want to look at all the numbers, enjoy the link below. It’s the full list from the image above.
Match Recaps
Big West
Hawai'i (84%) def. UC Santa Barbara (16%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 29-27)
UC Irvine (66%) def. CSU Northridge (34%)
3-0 (25-22, 28-26, 25-19)
Long Beach (91%) def. UC San Diego (9%)
3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-13)
ConfCarolinas
North Greenville (72%) def. Erskine (28%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-14)
Belmont Abbey (52%) def. Emmanuel (48%)
3-2 (25-22, 15-25, 23-25, 25-19, 15-6)
King (61%) def. Mount Olive (39%)
3-2 (25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 20-25, 15-11)
Barton (28%) def. Lees-McRae (72%)
3-2 (25-18, 13-25, 15-25, 25-20, 17-15)
EIVA
Charleston (68%) def. NJIT (32%)
3-2 (25-17, 25-19, 21-25, 23-25, 15-12)
George Mason (27%) def. Princeton (73%)
3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-18)
Penn State (86%) def. Harvard (14%)
3-0 (25-17, 29-27, 25-21)
IVA
Tusculum (57%) def. Alderson Broaddus (43%)
3-2 (25-16, 30-32, 23-25, 25-23, 15-4)
Lincoln Memorial (88%) def. Tusculum (12%)
3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-19)
MIVA
Ball State (55%) def. Lewis (45%)
3-2 (25-22, 25-19, 21-25, 17-25, 15-12)
Ohio State (67%) def. McKendree (33%)
3-1 (25-21, 26-24, 20-25, 26-24)
Purdue Fort Wayne (70%) def. Lindenwood (30%)
3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 25-17)
Loyola Chicago (93%) def. Quincy (7%)
3-2 (25-16, 25-23, 23-25, 23-25, 15-7)
MPSF
Stanford (73%) def. Concordia-Irvine (27%)
3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-20)
UCLA (68%) def. Grand Canyon (32%)
3-0 (30-28, 25-21, 25-19)
NEC
Long Island (79%) def. D'Youville (21%)
3-1 (17-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-18)
Daemen (70%) def. St. Francis-Brooklyn (30%)
3-2 (23-25, 34-32, 25-19, 28-30, 15-12)
Fairleigh Dickinson (32%) def. Sacred Heart (68%)
3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 25-21, 21-25, 17-15)
Saint Francis (67%) def. Merrimack (33%)
3-1 (25-21, 25-13, 17-25, 25-22)
Non-conference
Pepperdine (88%) def. California Lutheran (12%)
3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-22)
Vassar (64%) def. American International (36%)
3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-16)
Match Projections
No matches today.