I would like to apologize to the EIVA. Yesterday, I mentioned that they were undefeated as a conference and then they were defeated in the two matches the played. I’m pretty sure I am not fully to blame though. McKendree got their first win of the season at home against a very good NJIT. But it was Daemen that really stole the show yesterday. In what is being called the biggest win in NEC history1, the Wildcats defeated the Princeton Tigers. Daemen is now 2-0 against the defending EIVA tournament champions all time. Have I mentioned lately that I am really excited for the NEC?
Two more teams will make their season debut today: Concordia and Queens. This will leave only 21 (of 57) teams left to officially start their 2023 campaign. After earning his first career win as a head coach, Kai Dugquem (LIU) will look to double his total against a good IVA foe, Queens. SFBK will be taking on the #2 ranked D-III team to add to their strong 3-0 start. With a handful of matches lined up for today, it is another great opportunity to watch/stream/live-stat some volleyball.
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Also, I wanted to give you a little preview of coming attractions. Since the NCAA seems to be asleep at the volleyball wheel, I am working to organize some more of the data I have. It is a lot of numbers at this point so hopefully I can clean it up and someone will find it useful. Let me know if you have any ideas (or happen to be great at Tableau).
Match Recaps
Non-conference
Lewis (82%) def. Missouri S&T (18%) 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-15)
After out-acing Loyola on Monday (8-7), MST was dealt the reverse card and was out-aced 0-11 by Lewis.
Long Island (47%) def. Belmont Abbey (53%) 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-17)
Gustavo Cavalcanti (LIU) put the team on his arm. He finished with 16 kills, 0 errors, and a .667 hitting pct to power the Sharks to victory.
There were so many great performances in this match! Shoutout to Sean Calif (Daemen) on getting fairly close to the elusive triple-double (38 assists, 10 digs, 5 kills).
McKendree had 3 players reach double digit kills (Wilson-17, Schuele-11, & Wetjen-11). The Bearcats are now on a 3-match win streak against the Highlanders going back to 2016.
