VBelo Scouting Report: January 06, 2023
VBelo Scouting Report: January 06, 2023
The first to five and the first VBelo upset of the season.
Day 2 is in the books. This was our first look at several teams for this season, including 4 ranked squads. Ohio State and UCLA both handled their unranked opponents in 3 sets. It took UCSB 4 sets to get their first win of the season. Not to be outdone, UCSD was able to pull off a victory in the first #cincosets match of the year. This was also the first match of the season where the VBelo favorite lost.1
Today is a big day as we have 12 matches lined up. This includes the Battle for the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. When volleyball is brought into new places, the sport is all the better for it. We will also get our first look at Penn State, Stanford, and Lewis (just to name a few). There are a bunch of close matchups so hopefully we will get to watch some great volleyball. I think the BYU and McKendree match will be an interesting one to keep an eye on. BYU is looking to bounce back after a rough 2022 where they went 8-17. McKendree, on the other hand, will look to repeat their last visit to Provo where they beat the Cougars in 2019.
Match Recaps
Non-conference
Ohio State (64%) def. Central State (36%)
3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-23)
Ohio State out dug Central State 30-16 in this match that featured only 4 total lead changes.
UC Santa Barbara (71%) def. Southern California (29%)
3-1 (19-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-23)
UCSB hit over .500 in sets 2 and 3 to power them to victory. Ryan Wilcox (UCSB) led all players with 14 kills and was tied for the most digs at 9.
It looks like going with the favorite yesterday paid off.
UCLA (88%) def. CSU Northridge (12%)
3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-18)
Ethan Champlin was on another level. 12 kills on 17 attempts with 0 errors!
UC San Diego (29%) def. Lincoln Memorial (71%)
3-2 (25-18, 15-25, 25-23, 20-25, 16-14)
The Tritons were out hit (.345-.250), out blocked (12-4), and ever scored less total points in the match (105-101) than the Railsplitters, but they had the points where it mattered. Shay Spadaro (LMU) had 18 kills while hitting a blistering .708 on the match.
Match Projections
Non-conference
Tusculum (31%) vs Erskine (69%)
Lewis (68%) vs UC Irvine (32%)
Saint Francis (39%) vs Stanford (61%)
Lincoln Memorial (37%) vs UC Santa Barbara (63%)
UCLA (76%) vs UC San Diego (24%)
CSU Northridge (27%) vs Southern California (73%)
King (41%) vs Purdue Fort Wayne (59%)
Penn State (79%) vs Central State (21%)
McKendree (46%) vs BYU (54%)
Lindenwood (27%) vs Grand Canyon (73%)
Belmont Abbey (60%) vs Eastern Nazarene (40%)
Belmont Abbey2 (57%) vs Fairleigh Dickinson (43%)
Tweet of the Day
I promise this isn’t just a Tiff Wells promotional tweet section…
I could say a lot about this, but favorites losing isn’t a bad thing for the model. Sometimes underdogs win. Also, it is the beginning of the season and the model is still learning about these teams.
Since Belmont Abbey is playing two matches today, when the model runs it will recalculate their VBelo rating after the first match. Thus, the projections here may change when the final scores are posted tomorrow.