VBelo Scouting Report: January 10, 2023
Monday brooms and MPSF dominance
Two matches, two sweeps. In Chicago, 15 Ramblers were able to see the floor in Head Coach John Hawks’ first career win. The Miners are still looking for their first program win, but they definitely saw some encouraging play. This is mentioned below, but Nate Meyer had a run of 5 straight aces! In an odd coincidence, the Princeton/D’Youville match had the same set scores just in a different order. Since we are talking about head coaches, this was Sam Shweisky’s 142nd win in his 14th season.
Today, Missouri S&T will suit up again to face a strong MIVA contender, Lewis. Princeton will also hit the court again as they face another NEC opponent that starts with the letter D, Daemen. The other two matches today look pretty close, according to VBelo. The NJIT and McKendree match is particularly interesting. McKendree will be looking to shake off two tough losses in Provo while NJIT will seek to knock off another MIVA team.
Currently, the only undefeated conference is the EIVA (4-0). The MPSF may not be undefeated, but their 12-1 record so far is very impressive. It’s not like they were playing easy teams either. They recorded 5 wins against the Big West and 4 against the MIVA. This looks like an early statement from the MPSF that they want to end their National Championship drought.
The national rankings came out today too. There was not a ton of movement (which makes sense) but Lincoln Memorial did get 9 votes which would be good enough for 18th. This still seems a little low to me, but we will have to wait and see how the season plays out.
Match Recaps
Non-conference
Loyola Chicago (84%) def. Missouri S&T (16%)
3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 27-25)
Give the pickaxe to Nate Meyer (MST)! Meyer finished with 8 aces including 5 straight in set 3.
Princeton (74%) def. D'Youville (26%)
3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-17)
Sevens: Princeton out-blocked (7-4) and aced (7-1) D’Youville while also keeping Saints to only 7 kills in sets two and three and a hitting percentage of 0.077 in set three.
Match Projections
Non-conference
Missouri S&T (18%) vs Lewis (82%)
Long Island (47%) vs Belmont Abbey (53%)
Princeton (42%) vs Daemen (58%)
NJIT (52%) vs McKendree (48%)
