VBelo Scouting Report: January 14, 2023

Lots of matches, but few surprises

Tons of matches yesterday.¹ We finally got our first look at several teams this season including first-year program Merrimack and #3 ranked Long Beach. Stanford took on UC Santa Barbara in a top-10 showdown and the Cardinal came away with the sweep. This is a team that returned a ton of experience from last season and wants to prove that it was unquestionably the right decision to reinstate this program. VBelo considered UCSB the slightly stronger team in this match so we may be seeing the first glimpses of Stanford’s rise in VBelo.

The second match of the Hawai’i/Ball State series was just as exciting as advertised. These top teams looked…well, like top teams. Ball State came out hot and took the first set before Hawai’i slowly built up steam to take the next 3. Spyros Chakas (UH) had a match high 22 kills (.581%) and Dimitrios Mouchlias (UH) had a career best 6 aces. Ball State out-blocked Hawai’i 7.5-5 but they weren’t able to fully control the Rainbow Warriors, who hit .439 on the match (and .591 in set 4). This is the first time Ball State has started a season 0-2 since the 2009 season.² They will look for their first win of the year as they return home for 8 straight home matches.

We have 14 more matches today and only 1 team will be making their debut (North Greenville). This means that after today there will only be 7 teams left to start their season, 4 of which are in the SIAC. For today’s lineup, there are two matchups between ranked teams: Grand Canyon/Ohio State (at GMU) and UCSB/Stanford. VBelo has both of these matches as tightly contested so we get some great volleyball out on the court.

For everyone counting, this is the 11th straight day of Men’s Volleyball. From what I can tell, the first day without a match isn’t until January 23rd. What a time to be alive.

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Match Recaps

Non-conference

UC Irvine (57%) def. Emmanuel (43%)
3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-11)

The Anteaters kept the Lions to a .012 hitting pct while they hit a blistering .433.

Pepperdine (88%) def. Master's (12%)
3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-23)

Stanford (45%) def. UC Santa Barbara (55%)
3-0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-18)

When you hit .420 on the match (Stanford), you will probably win. The Cardinal had three players with double digit kills in this top-10 matchup.

Grand Canyon (50%) def. George Mason (50%)
3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-16)

Christian Janke (GCU) led the Lopes with 12 kills (.526 pct), 5 blocks, and 2 aces.

Lincoln Memorial (62%) def. Mount Olive (38%)
3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-20)

Matthew Gentry (LMU) had 5 aces (career high) bringing his season total up to 9 in 16 sets (or 0.56 aces/set).

Harvard (62%) def. Sacred Heart (38%)
3-1 (15-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-19)

CSU Northridge (58%) def. California Lutheran (42%)
3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-12)

Southern California (67%) def. Lindenwood (33%)
3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-16)

USC had only 8 hitting errors the entire match. Frassrand and Kobrine combined for 15 kills and 0 errors. That is efficient hitting.

Long Beach (76%) def. King (24%)
3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-14)

Long Beach is very good. And I mean very good. Are you surprised?

Fairleigh Dickinson (61%) def. American International (39%)
3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-22)

Purdue Fort Wayne (80%) def. Carthage (20%)
3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-23)

Penn State (76%) def. Daemen (24%)
3-0 (25-10, 25-19, 25-22)

Owen Rose (PSU) is a blocking machine. He recorded a career high 9 blocks and brings his season average up to just over 2 blocks/set.

Loyola Chicago (75%) def. UC San Diego (25%)
3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-18)

Hawai'i (76%) def. Ball State (24%)
3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18)

You picked the winner and the percentages match the sets (3-1).

Maryville (84%) def. Kentucky State (16%)
3-1 (24-26, 25-10, 25-19, 25-21)

Tusculum (67%) def. Barton (33%)
3-2 (19-25, 29-27, 19-25, 25-23, 17-15)

UCLA (77%) def. Princeton (23%)
3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-14)

Charleston (50%) def. Belmont Abbey (50%)
3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-16)

Luuk Hoge Bavel (Charleston) was unstoppable with 13 kills, 0 errors, and a .831 hitting pct. He also led the team with 9 digs.

Juniata (57%) def. Merrimack (43%)
3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-20)

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Match Projections

Non-conference

Grand Canyon (58%) vs Ohio State (42%)

Central State (47%) vs Erskine (53%)

UC San Diego (26%) vs Lewis (74%)

Emmanuel (28%) vs Pepperdine (72%)

Kentucky State (28%) vs Missouri S&T (72%)

UC Santa Barbara (51%) vs Stanford (49%)

Queens (29%) vs North Greenville (71%)

Belmont Abbey (61%) vs D'Youville (39%)

Barton (9%) vs Lincoln Memorial (91%)

Sacred Heart (18%) vs NJIT (82%)

Lindenwood (14%) vs Long Beach (86%)

American International (23%) vs Fairleigh Dickinson (77%)

King (37%) vs Southern California (63%)

Merrimack (7%) vs Penn State (93%)

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Tweet of the Day

USC Men's Volleyball @USCmensvolley

🐫 Welcome inside the Walter Pyramid! DID YOU KNOW❓ The Walter Pyramid was officially opened in 1994. It's not the oldest pyramid in the world, but it is blue, so there's that. Trojans lead by six, 10-4, in the first. #FightOn ✌️🏐 #NCAAMVB

1. I am assuming that if you weighed every player who saw the court today, you would have literally tons of volleyball. Seems like a safe assumption.

2. In 2009, Ball State lost their first 3 matches before eventually finishing the season at 18-10.