VBelo Scouting Report: March 16, 2023
VBelo Scouting Report: March 16, 2023
A whole broom closet
7 matches yesterday and 6 of them were sweeps. Ball State got an important conference victory over Ohio State in straight sets. On the one hand, getting a higher seed in the conference tournament is important. But also, in the MIVA, it seems like just about anyone can win so maybe those seedings won’t matter as much. Then again, getting wins is almost always better than not getting wins. Deep analysis, I know.
We also had 2 one-loss teams take the court. Grand Canyon continued it’s impressive season with its 19th win! For comparison, they finished 2022 with a 16-12 record. We are just two weeks away from their major showdown with UCLA. The other one-loss team, Daemen, faced Concordia and fell in straight sets. The Wildcats still look to be the favorite in the NEC and I love that they have a tough road trip planned this week.
Today we have some good Big West action. We haven’t seen a lot of matches in this conference this year so it will be great to get a better picture of what is happening here. A little surprisingly, UCSB has the slight VBelo edge over a very strong UC Irvine squad.
A super interesting matchup will be the one-loss Charleston taking on the MIVA leading Loyola Ramblers. Loyola is the strong favorite, but Charleston has repeatedly surprised us this year. A win would be huge for the Golden Eagles, but it would also be great for the sport. If more programs are competing at the highest level, the sport is better for it.
Match Recaps
MIVA
Ball State (72%) def. Ohio State (28%)
3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-20)
Kaleb Jenness (BSU) gave us a glimpse of 2022 with his 12 kills and .478 hitting percentage.
Non-conference
Concordia-Irvine (19%) def. Daemen (81%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-22)
Uriel Batista (CUI) and his 13 kills helped lift the Golden Eagles to victory.
Missouri S&T (71%) def. Missouri Baptist (29%)
3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-13)
The Miners stifled the Spartans all night as they kept Missouri Baptist to a negative hitting percentage in all three sets.
Pepperdine (78%) def. Harvard (22%)
3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-15)
Jaylen Jasper (PEP) continues to bolster his resume for player of the year with 19 kills in 3 sets. He had 47.5% of Pepperdine’s total kills (19 of 40).
Limestone (66%) def. Edward Waters (34%)
3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-21)
Jakub Osiewala (LU) exploded for 18 kills in just 3 sets.
Grand Canyon (74%) def. Princeton (26%)
3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-22)
Camden Gianni (GCU) led the Lopes with 12 kills for their 19th win of the season.
Saint Francis (31%) def. Queens (69%)
3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 26-24, 25-18)
Jack Brinkman (QU) had a double-double (13 kills & 11 digs) in the loss.
Match Projections
Big West
UC Irvine (48%) vs UC Santa Barbara (52%)
UC San Diego (33%) vs CSU Northridge (67%)
NEC
Long Island (57%) vs St. Francis-Brooklyn (43%)
Non-conference
Charleston (23%) vs Loyola Chicago (77%)
Fairleigh Dickinson (34%) vs Belmont Abbey (66%)
