VBelo Scouting Report: May 8, 2022
VBelo Scouting Report: May 8, 2022
Back-to-back for the Rainbow Warriors
Hawai’i wins it in stunning fashion. On national television, Hawai’i Men’s Volleyball proved that if they were playing at the top of their game, no one could stand in their way. They will head back to the island with another trophy to add to the case and the feeling of being champions. The joy of victory was palpable in the players and fans of the Rainbow Warriors.
On the other side of the net, Long Beach finishes yet another incredibly impressive season. Entering the 2022 season, the last time Long Beach had been swept 3-0 in a match was March 23, 2019. That streak was broken with their loss to Hawai’i in the Big West championship and then they lost again in three sets to Hawai’i yesterday for the NCAA National Championship. The last season where Long Beach lost two matches 3-0 was 2016 (both against UCLA.) To say that it was improbable for Hawai’i to sweep their conference rivals yesterday might be a slight understatement. This is an incredibly tough Long Beach team and this championship loss will likely add fuel to the fire for next year.
Hawai’i now joins the (oddly satisfying) pattern of back-to-back national champions.
‘12 & ‘13 - UC Irvine
’14 & ‘15 - Loyola Chicago
’16 & ‘17 - Ohio State
’18 & ‘19 - Long Beach
’20 - Canceled
’21 & ‘22 - Hawai’i
I know it is still early, but there is good reason to believe that part three of this championship series could be lined up in 2023. For those wondering, here are the championship sites for the next 4 tournaments.
2023 - George Mason (Fairfax, VA | EIVA)
2024 - Long Beach (Long Beach, CA | Big West)
2025 - Ohio State (Columbus, OH | MIVA)
2026 - UCLA (Los Angeles, CA | MPSF)
But enough about the future, let’s talk about that match!
Match Recap
(3) Hawai’i (62%) def. (1) Long Beach (38%): 3-0
(25-22, 25-21, 25-20)
What to even say about this match? If someone happened to stumble upon ESPN2 looking for a sporting event worth watching, they picked a great match. These two teams are likely the two strongest programs in the nation right now.
The big stat storyline was Hawai’i out-blocking Long Beach 8-1. Long Beach had the advantage in digs (26-16) and aces (5-3), but Hawai’i was dominant when it came to hitting. The Rainbow Warriors finished the match hitting .434 and they never hit below .400 in any of the three sets.
Dimitrios Mouchlias (Hawai’i) finished the match with 11 kills on 22 attacks with 0 errors. This was his 5th match of the season with at least 10 kills and 0 errors. Both Hawai’i middles (Voss and Hogland) also finished with 0 errors. The hitting clinic that the Rainbow Warriors put on was a sight to see.
For Long Beach, Alex Nikolov did everything he could for his team. He finished with 20 kills while hitting .405 (the same number of kills and hitting percentage he had Thursday against UCLA.) Mason Briggs, who averages 2.51 digs/set finished with only 5 digs (and only had 4 digs against UCLA.) Long Beach also continued their pattern of setting the pins by having only 4 kills from middles on 8 attacks with 2 errors.
A terrifying realization is that BOTH Hawai’i and Long Beach are graduating 0 starters from this match. That’s right. Both of these starting lineups could (very likely) face each other again, multiple times, next season. Expect big things.
VBelo Standings
Here are the final rankings for VBelo in the 2022 season. In the off-season we will explore this more, but for now, enjoy looking through the teams and potentially seeing some surprising rankings. Unsurprisingly, Hawai’i reigns supreme at the end of this season.
Off-Season Scouting Reports
With the conclusion of the 2022 season, there are no more matches to cover for several months. Don’t worry though, there is still plenty to talk about. From looking back at this season, seeing some highlights (and lowlights), looking ahead to the 2023 season, and of course more interesting graphs, VBelo will be here. That being said, the Scouting Report will come out less frequently, but it will not go away.
Thank you to everyone who found the stuff VBelo put out this year interesting. This is an incredibly fun project and if it helps #GrowTheGame even 1%, it is absolutely worth it.
Personal note from T.J.: Thank you for reading and engaging with VBelo. It means a lot and I am incredibly thankful for each and everyone of you. This project takes a fair amount of time and effort, but I truly have loved doing it. If you are interested in supporting the work of VBelo (absolutely no pressure), you can treat me to a tea (I’m not a coffee drinker.) I also want to get a Raspberry Pi in anticipation of next season to help automate some work and get that content out in a timely manner. If you would like to support VBelo, you can follow the link below. Otherwise, continue enjoying VBelo and, as always, go out there and #GrowTheGame.
