VBelo Scouting Report: May 05, 2023
The finals are set and it feels like it might be fate
To say that we had high quality volleyball yesterday is an understatement. To make things even better, we get to see the rematch between UCLA and Hawaiʻi on Saturday for the Championship. With just 1 match left in the season, it isn’t hard to look back and think that these two teams were on a collision course from the beginning of the season. But to get to the finals, each team had to get past a top team in the country.
UCLA swept Long Beach in a performance that can only be described as dominant. The Beach were held to 19 points or less in every set as the Bruins hit a blistering .458% for the match. This was the 17th time this season that UCLA hit over .400% and it is no surprise because they lead the nation in hitting percentage. Ido David and Ethan Champlin both had double-digit kills while hitting over .600%. The Bruins were able to keep Long Beach out of system most of the night and LBSU struggled to get a consistent rhythm. This was UCLA’s 30th win of the season.
The second match of the day was hyped as a huge rematch. Hawaiʻi had only lost 2 matches this season and one of those was to Penn State. Would the Nittany Lions prevail again or would the Rainbow Warriors get their revenge? VBelo had this as a toss up with the slight edge going to Hawaiʻi at 52%. It took 5 sets, but Hawaiʻi came out on top largely thanks to Opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias and his season high 25 kills. Penn State’s serving pressure kept the Bows scrambling the entire night and it looked like they might have the momentum heading into the 5th set. But then the two-time defending champs showed everyone that they know what it takes to win, closing out the last set with a .667% hitting percentage. This match was a volleyball fan’s dream (particularly if you don’t cheer for these teams).
Now we wait for the last match of the season where a champion will be crowned in Fairfax. Saturday cannot come soon enough.
Updated Tournament Projections
We are down to the final two teams and they are separated by the slimmest of margins. I had to go to some extra digits just to show how close this really is! In terms of VBelo projections, this is the 4th closest projection of any match this season.
This match can easily go either way. These are the top two teams in the VBelo rankings right now and whoever wins the championship will finish the season as #1. I wish we got a 3rd place match, but the drama of this finals matchup is so good it might as well be scripted. I doubt that this season finale will be a disappointment.
Match Recaps
Non-conference
UCLA (64%) def. Long Beach (36%)
3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-19)
Hawai'i (52%) def. Penn State (48%)
3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 16-25, 23-25, 15-10)
Match Projections
No match today: Next match: Saturday (5/6) - CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Not even relegation to the NCAA website could spoil that double-header! Dimi just refused to lose.