VBelo Scouting Report: February 03, 2023
VBelo Scouting Report: February 03, 2023
Can anyone contain the MPSF?
What a day. Lees-McRae finished its Arizona road trip with a win against NAIA unranked opponent Park University (Gilbert, AZ). This match basically went exactly as planned for the Bobcats as they completed the sweep in under 75 minutes.1 UC Irvine also had an exhibition match against Benedictine-Mesa. But these Arizona matches got a bit overshadowed by the continued MPSF domination train.
First, BYU came into Muncie, IN and got the upset win against Ball State. This is great for the Cougars as they continue to prove that they are not the 2022 BYU team that struggled mightily last season. Tinaishe Ndavazocheva (BSU) had an incredible night with 24 kills (more than doubling his previous best this season) and Kaleb Jenness added another 19 kills in the loss. Although BYU was outhit in all 4 sets, their serving helped power them forward. The Cougars finished with only 7 service errors to their 9 aces.
The BYU result might have been a slight surprise, but it was nothing compared to Concordia knocking off an undefeated Loyola. Loyola’s Parker Van Buren led all players with 19 kills and the Ramblers dominated the blocking game 12-5. But Concordia should change their mascot to the miners because they were digging non-stop.2 With 64 team digs, the Eagles Miners were able to control the match and get the huge upset win. With VBelo only giving them a 19% chance at winning, this was the second largest upset of the season.
After those two wins, the MPSF looks to be a complete powerhouse this season. They have now passed the Big West to be the conference with the highest average team VBelo. This is particularly impressive with how much Hawai’i brings up the average for the Big West.
They seem to be able to beat everyone they meet on the court. The MPSF does not have a losing record against any conference this season. None of them! This is starting to get absurd.
We have another day of 20+ matches today. There is the anticipated sequel of BYU and Ball State as well as Loyola and Long Beach, in a huge non-conference match for both teams. A lot of attention will also be on the UC Irvine and Grand Canyon match. These two teams have made a big splash in the early season and this could be a great match to watch.
Sure, looking at ranked matchups is fun, but VBelo can be helpful to pick out potentially close matchups that don’t involve ranked teams. Today, we have several matches that look like they could go either way. Long Island and Lindenwood is an interesting matchup. Both of these teams have had tough schedules so far. Lindenwood may be 1-4, but all four losses were to ranked opponents. This match could definitely go back and forth. The Battle for the Monarchy3 (King vs Queens) looks to be an interesting one as well. But the closest matchup of the day goes to Mount Olive and Purdue Fort Wayne. This match will be on a neutral court (GMU) and VBelo has Purdue with a negligible advantage at 50.2%.
Match Recaps
Non-conference
Concordia-Irvine (19%) def. Loyola Chicago (81%)
3-1 (25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 25-21)
Jacob Reilly (CUI) finished with a career high 19 digs! Concordia had 3 other players with double digit digs and double digit kills. That’s right, TRIPLE double-double!
Lees-McRae (49%) def. Park (51%)
3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-18)
Bradley Peters (LMC) served up 6 aces to go along with his 28 assists last night. This was his second highest total of the season (9 aces on 1/28/23).
BYU (26%) def. Ball State (74%)
3-1 (24-26, 25-23, 25-21, 27-25)
BYU double double-double: Kupono Browne (13 kills & 10 digs) and Miks Ramanis (16 kills & 12 digs).
Match Projections
Non-conference
Ohio State (26%) vs UCLA (74%)
Erskine (65%) vs Alderson Broaddus (35%)
Lewis (66%) vs George Mason (34%)
Long Island (52%) vs Lindenwood (48%)
Missouri S&T (21%) vs McKendree (79%)
Pepperdine (58%) vs UC Santa Barbara (42%)
Stanford (72%) vs CSU Northridge (28%)
King (44%) vs Queens (56%)
Central State (24%) vs Lincoln Memorial (76%)
Sacred Heart (20%) vs Princeton (80%)
Loyola Chicago (31%) vs Long Beach (69%)
UC Irvine (35%) vs Grand Canyon (65%)
Southern California (20%) vs Penn State (80%)
Saint Francis (30%) vs NJIT (70%)
Daemen (57%) vs Harvard (43%)
BYU (31%) vs Ball State (69%)
Kentucky State (33%) vs Thomas More (67%)
Culver-Stockton (26%) vs Maryville (74%)
Merrimack (62%) vs American International (38%)
Ottawa University-Arizona (21%) vs UC San Diego (79%)
Campbellsville (11%) vs North Greenville (89%)
Mount Olive (50%) vs Purdue Fort Wayne (50%)
Tweet of the Day
Lees-McRae was able to finish 3 sets before BYU/Ball State could finish 2.
I apologize for nothing here.
It’s not called this…but it should be.