VBelo Scouting Report: April 16, 2023

The postseason is alive and well

Apr 16, 2023

The regular season is over and we know the seedings for all the tournaments. I will be putting out the projections throughout the next couple of days. Before we talk about the new tournaments, we have to talk about the tournaments that have already started.

Over in the IVA, Lincoln Memorial 5-peated as champion. Congratulations to the Railsplitters! They finished the 2023 season with a record of 22-4. I know I am a broken record, but I want to see them in the national tournament!

To stay on-brand, the MIVA gave us some great drama in the quarterfinals. McKendree pulled off the huge upset over early-season MIVA favorite Loyola. It is hard to see the MIVA getting an at-large bid this year, so this is likely the end of the road for the Ramblers. Phenomenal season! The other 3 matches all went to the higher seed with Ball State, Ohio State, and Lewis (State?) advancing to the semifinals on Wednesday. Updated projections for the last two rounds coming soon…

I can’t not mention what we saw in UCLA’s last regular season match. Merrick McHenry with an absolutely mind-boggling statline. 14 kills, 0 errors, 19 attacks for a .737% hitting percentage. Ooh yeah, he also added 12 blocks. A DOZEN BLOCKS! Is he the best middle in the country? Yes. Is he the best player in the country? Probably.

RPI Update

As expected, Penn State moved up to #2 bumping Hawai’i down to #3. BYU is also in an interesting position just ahead of Grand Canyon. If the top seeds win in the Big West tournament, it is possible that Long Beach passes Hawai’i as well. LBSU could face UC Irvine (#9 RPI) and Hawai’i could face UCSB (#26 RPI), which would benefit the Beach’s RPI.

Full RPI List

Conference Seedings

Here is a giant list of all of the conference tournament seedings.

Match Recaps

Big West

UC Santa Barbara (70%) def. CSU Northridge (30%)
3-1 (25-18, 27-25, 21-25, 25-21)

Long Beach (67%) def. UC Irvine (33%)
3-2 (22-25, 18-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-13)

Hawai'i (94%) def. UC San Diego (6%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-21)

EIVA

Penn State (87%) def. Charleston (13%)
3-1 (25-13, 25-20, 22-25, 25-16)

George Mason (48%) def. Harvard (52%)
3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23)

IVA Tournament

Championship

Lincoln Memorial (61%) def. Queens (39%)
3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-15)

3rd Place Match

Limestone (67%) def. Maryville (33%)
3-1 (23-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-16)

5th Place Match

Alderson Broaddus (43%) def. Tusculum (57%)
3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23)

MIVA Tournament

Quarterfinals

Ball State (93%) def. Quincy (7%)
3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-15)

McKendree (14%) def. Loyola Chicago (86%)
3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 15-12)

Ohio State (79%) def. Lindenwood (21%)
3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-23)

Lewis (60%) def. Purdue Fort Wayne (40%)
3-1 (25-15, 25-18, 16-25, 38-36)

MPSF

Southern California (72%) def. Concordia (28%)
3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-21)

UCLA (87%) def. Pepperdine (13%)
3-1 (26-28, 25-20, 25-16, 25-15)

BYU (73%) def. Stanford (27%)
3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-19)

NEC

Sacred Heart (24%) def. Long Island (76%)
3-2 (21-25, 27-25, 25-23, 22-25, 29-27)

Fairleigh Dickinson (53%) def. D'Youville (47%)
3-0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-18)

Merrimack (34%) def. St. Francis-Brooklyn (66%)
3-1 (25-18, 15-25, 25-20, 25-16)

Saint Francis (51%) def. Daemen (49%)
3-1 (25-20, 26-28, 25-17, 25-19)

SIAC

Benedict (56%) def. Fort Valley State (44%)
3-2 (25-22, 14-25, 21-25, 27-25, 15-9)

Match Projections

No matches today.