VBelo Scouting Report: March 19, 2023
Conferences are getting really interesting, really quick
The last match of Saturday (or the first on Sunday depending on where you live) was stunning. Hawaiʻi completely flipped the script on Long Beach and beat them in three sets. I know it is early and there is plenty of conference play to go, but it’s not unrealistic to imagine a world where both teams finish at 9-1 in the Big West. If that were to happen, it looks like Hawaiʻi has the advantage, having scored 144 points to Long Beach’s 141 points in the series.1
The big difference tonight for the Rainbow Warriors was blocking. In the first match, they were out-blocked 7-3, but yesterday they won the battle at the net 11-2! It was also clear from the stats (and Chaz Galloway’s post-match interview) that Hawaiʻi’s game plan was to keep the ball away from Libero sensation Mason Briggs. In 6 sets this weekend, he had only 7 digs. The matches against Hawaiʻi were his second and third lowest dig totals of the season.
There were other matches that were played yesterday as well (but I wasn’t at them in person). The MIVA March Madness continued with Loyola losing its first conference match to the dangerous Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons. Ohio State was able to avenge their 3-set loss to Ball State with a reverse sweep at home. This is exactly the type of conference drama that we should expect from the MIVA this year.
Huge congratulations to Daemen for their first win against a ranked team as they beat CSUN in 5. In contrast to the upset narrative about this match, VBelo actually had Daemen as the slight favorites (62%). I looked at a different projection system and they only gave Daemen an 11% chance of victory. This seems wildly low for the Wildcats. Daemen is the only team that is undefeated in NEC conference play and looks to be the favorites at this point.
Match Recaps
Big West
Hawai'i (67%) def. Long Beach (33%)
3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-23)
ConfCarolinas
Erskine (84%) def. Barton (16%)
3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 20-25, 25-18)
Mount Olive (44%) def. Emmanuel (56%)
3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-21, 25-20)
Belmont Abbey (63%) def. Lees-McRae (37%)
3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 31-29)
MIVA
Ohio State (39%) def. Ball State (61%)
3-2 (23-25, 24-26, 25-18, 26-24, 15-12)
Lewis (73%) def. McKendree (27%)
3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-22)
Purdue Fort Wayne (36%) def. Loyola Chicago (64%)
3-2 (25-18, 27-25, 23-25, 20-25, 15-12)
Lindenwood (80%) def. Quincy (20%)
3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-21)
MPSF
UCLA (83%) def. Stanford (17%)
3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-20)
NEC
Merrimack (55%) def. Sacred Heart (45%)
3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-20)
SIAC
Benedict (86%) def. Morehouse (14%)
3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-11)
Non-conference
Long Island (91%) def. American International (9%)
3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-14)
Limestone (82%) def. Reinhardt (18%)
3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-17)
D'Youville (58%) def. Elmira (42%)
3-1 (25-22, 29-27, 21-25, 25-20)
George Mason (78%) def. Fairleigh Dickinson (22%)
3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-21)
Lincoln Memorial (90%) def. Fort Valley State (10%)
3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-19)
Penn State (91%) def. Saint Francis (9%)
3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-14)
Alderson Broaddus (54%) def. Carlow (46%)
3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-13)
Daemen (62%) def. CSU Northridge (38%)
3-2 (25-19, 25-21, 19-25, 22-25, 15-12)
Central State (79%) def. Thomas More (21%)
3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 29-27)
St. Francis-Brooklyn (62%) def. Randolph-Macon (38%)
3-1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-19, 25-19)
St. Francis-Brooklyn (57%) def. Kean (43%)
3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-14)
Match Projections
No matches today.
Tweet of the Day
Per the Big West Conference Manual.