Just two matches took place on the night, as a pair of EIVA squads took to the non-league portion of their schedule. That ended in a split for the league, as the favorites won in both matches in Charleston over Limestone and #5 UC Irvine against #16 George Mason. The second of the two featured a team in contention in the Big West and for an at-large bid against the EIVA leader, but the Anteaters created some more west coast struggles for the Patriots.
Charleston Def. Limestone 3-1 (26-28, 25-21, 25-18, 25-22)
- Charleston 10-4 (3-3 EIVA); Limestone 6-13 (3-6 Conf. Carolinas)
- Box Score
- Charleston Press Release
- Limestone Press Release
The offense wasn’t pretty for either team and errors were aplenty for both sides. Charleston though showed its ability to win games without a great offense – which they’ve done at points this season – with a strong serve (8-3 in aces) and blocks (12-4 in team blocks). That helped overcome a phenomenal effort from promising freshman Francisco Salinger Cenzual, who logged 19 kills on a .293 mark and 10 digs. The Charleston defense eliminated any other options though, as their strength led them to a tight four set victory.
#5 UC Irvine Def. #16 George Mason 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-23)
- #5 UC Irvine 14-5 (1-1 Big West); #16 George Mason 10-10 (6-0 EIVA)
- Box Score
- UC Irvine Press Release
- George Mason Press Release
The block party was out in full force for UC Irvine in a sweep of George Mason as they turned out 14.5 team blocks to just two from the Patriots. UC Irvine was also the more clean bunch, as they notched six less serve errors (with just one less ace) and 12 less attack errors – due to the blocking mismatch. Take some of those away, and the close sets in the sweep may have gone the other way, but the combination of Karl Apfelbach (16 kills, .433) leading the offense and Scott Stadick (10 blocks, six kills, .333) leading that front-of-the-net force was too much for the EIVA leaders to overcome.
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