VBelo Scouting Report: April 21, 2023
VBelo Scouting Report: April 21, 2023
MPSF Drama and a Friday SIAC Championship
Most of yesterday’s matches went to the higher seed…except two matches. Over in the NEC, Long Island pulled off the upset over VBelo favorite Daemen. This was a huge win for the Sharks and sets up a great matchup in the finals with Saint Francis.
The other upset is a doozy. Stanford defeated BYU in 5 sets to go to a second straight MPSF tournament finals. BYU’s fate is now in the selection committee’s hands. With 2 days left, the Cougars find themselves in 7th for RPI (which is not where they want to be).
Although there have been a few upsets, all of the #1 seeds are still left. Saturday will be the big day as all 5 automatic bids will be determined. The amount of chaos for selection Sunday will be directly determined by how the #1 seeds do. Buckle up!
Today we will have our 2nd 2023 tournament champion crowned. We already have Lincoln Memorial out of the IVA and they will be joined by either Edward Waters or Central State out of the SIAC. Unfortunately, neither of these tournaments provide an automatic bid to the national tournament, but that doesn’t mean they don’t matter.
This is the second season for the SIAC and we have a championship rematch between the Tigers and the Marauders. Edward Waters is the favorite as they went undefeated in conference play, dropping only 3 total sets. It is clear that these are the top 2 teams in the early days of this conference so it is exciting to see the beginnings of a beautiful rivalry.
We also have the last two pairs of conference semifinal matches for the Conference Carolinas and the Big West. After today, we just have trophy matches on Saturday before we find out what the national championship bracket looks like on Sunday.
Updated RPI
Still time for some movement in RPI. In the top 10, it should be noted that at least 3 of those teams will have to lose before Selection Sunday.
Match Recaps
Big West Quarterfinals
UC Santa Barbara (60%) def. UC San Diego (40%)
3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-13)
UC Irvine (81%) def. CSU Northridge (19%)
3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-18)
EIVA Semifinals
Penn State (89%) def. George Mason (11%)
3-1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-15)
Princeton (69%) def. NJIT (31%)
3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-14, 25-19)
MPSF Semifinals
UCLA (80%) def. Grand Canyon (20%)
3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-20)
Stanford (39%) def. BYU (61%)
3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-12)
NEC Semifinals
Long Island (42%) def. Daemen (58%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-22)
Saint Francis (75%) def. Sacred Heart (25%)
3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-19)
SIAC Quarterfinals & Semifinals
Fort Valley State (77%) def. Kentucky State (23%)
3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-13)
Benedict (87%) def. Morehouse (13%)
3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-16)
Edward Waters (71%) def. Fort Valley State (29%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-18)
Central State (59%) def. Benedict (41%)
3-1 (25-13, 25-17, 20-25, 25-15)
Match Projections
Big West Semifinals
Hawai'i (87%) vs UC Santa Barbara (13%)
Long Beach (68%) vs UC Irvine (32%)
ConfCarolinas Semifinals
Belmont Abbey (29%) vs North Greenville (71%)
Erskine (37%) vs King (63%)
SIAC Finals
Central State (47%) vs Edward Waters (53%)