VBelo Scouting Report: February 19, 2023
Upsets in the Carolinas
We got a little bit of excitement yesterday with 4 matches going to a fifth set. Looking at the projections of teams that won, everything was pretty chalk except the Conference Carolinas. Two of the three CC matchups were won by the underdogs. This includes Barton winning their first match since April 3, 2021. That is 686 days! Congratulations to the Bulldogs and I hope this is a sign of good things to come. With Barton winning, there is now only 1 team left in the country who is still waiting for their first win: Morehouse.
Today we just have one match. Daemen and Sacred Heart are both undefeated in conference but Daemen looks to have the edge according to VBelo, even as the away team. This will be the second time that these teams have ever faced each other with Sacred Heart winning their matchup last year in 5. Daemen would love to even out the series and extended their current 6-match win streak.
With no matches on Monday and it being a holiday, I am going to take the day off. I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who reads the VBelo Scouting Report. If you are so inclined, I would love it if you shared VBelo with someone you think might enjoy it. The more the merrier!
Match Recaps
ConfCarolinas
Erskine (34%) def. Mount Olive (66%)
3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 25-19)
Kacper Rybarczyk (Ersk) dropped 23 kills and hit .568% in the win.
Barton (20%) def. Emmanuel (80%)
3-1 (26-24, 20-25, 25-19, 25-20)
Barton snaps their 31-match losing streak behind 13 big blocks from Thomas Fanic.
North Greenville (82%) def. Lees-McRae (18%)
3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20)
EIVA
Charleston (60%) def. Harvard (40%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-10)
Penn State (85%) def. Princeton (15%)
3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-17)
Toby Ezeonu (PSU) was a brick wall with 9 blocks in the sweep.
MIVA
Loyola Chicago (63%) def. Ohio State (37%)
3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-18)
Ball State (51%) def. Purdue Fort Wayne (49%)
3-2 (25-20, 24-26, 25-22, 19-25, 15-8)
Jon Diedrich (PFW) tied a career high with 28 kills in the loss. Fun fact: he also had 28 kills in his first match as a Mastodon back in 2020.
MPSF
Stanford (43%) def. Pepperdine (57%)
3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 15-12)
UCLA (80%) def. BYU (20%)
3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-18)
Ido David (UCLA) had 21 kills and hit .581% in the sweep against MPSF foe BYU.
NEC
Merrimack (67%) def. D'Youville (33%)
3-2 (25-15, 24-26, 25-16, 16-25, 15-12)
Long Island (63%) def. Saint Francis (37%)
3-2 (25-17, 17-25, 20-25, 25-22, 21-19)
Both teams scored exactly 108 points in this marathon 5-set match.
St. Francis-Brooklyn (62%) def. Fairleigh Dickinson (38%)
3-1 (25-14, 26-28, 25-22, 25-21)
Non-conference
Limestone (80%) def. Fort Valley State (20%)
3-1 (25-9, 25-27, 25-19, 25-21)
George Mason (42%) def. King (58%)
3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-17)
Long Beach (80%) def. NJIT (20%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-13)
Central State (61%) def. Thiel (39%)
3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 19-25, 25-20)
Central State (63%) def. Maranatha Baptist (37%)
3-0 (25-15, 15-13, 25-10)
Midway (58%) def. Kentucky State (42%)
3-01
Match Projections
NEC
Daemen (78%) vs Sacred Heart (22%)
Tweet of the Day
As of writing, the set scores are not available. If you know the set scores, please send them my way.