VBelo Scouting Report: January 09, 2023
VBelo Scouting Report: January 09, 2023
New challenger approaching: Missouri S&T
It feels a little strange to say we completed the first week of the Men’s Volleyball1 season since it started on a Wednesday. But we have reached another Monday and that is when the AVCA releases it’s ranking, so I guess we are in week 2 now. The last match of the week saw Grand Canyon complete the series sweep against the newly D-I Lindenwood. The Lopes have now won the last 9 meetings between these teams going back to 2016.
Today we have two matches to look forward to. We have a team expected to be very strong (Loyola) against a first year program (Missouri S&T). Regardless of the outcome for MST, this will be a great experience for this new team to compete against a well seasoned and highly regarded program. This will be a great chance for a young team to lay the foundation for their program. We will also get to see two teams who will be looking to win their respective conference tournaments come April (Princeton & D’Youville). In case you are wondering, I am still very excited that the NEC is here and am looking forward to great things.
I also just want to say thank you for reading (and/or subscribing). This is a super fun project and I am glad that people are finding it helpful/enjoyable. Men’s Volleyball is a fantastic sport and I feel honored to be doing a small part in helping #GrowTheGame. I do all of this for the sport and because I genuinely enjoy it. If you are interested in supporting this labor of love, you can use the link below to buy me a coffee or just say thank you. But you can also just keep reading these. Either way, I’m so glad you’re reading!
Match Recaps
Non-conference
Grand Canyon (75%) def. Lindenwood (25%)
3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-21)
GCU hit (and this is not a typo) .722 in the first set (14 kills, 1 error, 18 attempts). And it’s not like Lindenwood didn’t put up a fight. They hit .458 in that set. Maximum offense!
Match Projections
Non-conference
Missouri S&T (16%)2 vs Loyola Chicago (84%)
This will be our first look at the John Hawks era Ramblers. They start the season nationally ranked (#12) and picked to finish second in the MIVA. Also, did I mention we have new teams this season‽
Princeton (74%) vs D'Youville (26%)
Princeton is returning 10 upperclassmen to start their defense of the EIVA tournament championship. D’Youville will be looking to prove that the NEC is not a conference to be underestimated (because it’s not).
Tweet of the Day
I know there’s other men’s volleyball out there besides the NCAA National Championship/D-I/II. There is incredible competition in D-III and NAIA. I am just using Men’s Volleyball as shorthand. If I had the time (and coding), I would love to cover other collegiate men’s volleyball too.
This is first match ever for Missouri S&T. VBelo is basically making an educated guess at this point as to how good they might be. It will take several games before we have any sense for how this new program compares to the rest of the country.