Saturday brought a pair of Top 20 upsets as No. 6 BYU edged No. 3 Ohio State in a rematch of the 2017 NCAA Championship and No. 18 Stanford swept No. 12 Ball State for its first win of the season.
No. 10 Penn State and No. 14 Grand Canyon, meanwhile, made quick work of their foes.
#14 Grand Canyon def. Limestone 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-8)
- GCU moves to 5-0; Limestone falls to 0-5
- Nashville, Tennessee
- GCU Recap / Limestone Recap
- Box Score
Key Statistics: Grand Canyon made just a handful of errors and outdid Limestone in every statistical category en route to a sweep Saturday and a 5-0 mark on the season.
GCU nearly doubled Limestone’s output in kills (30-17), aces (6-1) and blocks (9-2), while hitting at a .400 clip. Thirty hitting errors doomed the Saints to a -.176 hitting effort.
Stat Leaders: Redshirt senior outside hitter Cullen Mosher downed six kills to lead the Lopes, while nine other players turned in at least one kill. Senior setter Zachary Melcher and senior outside Shalev Saada notched four kills each, while four others added three apiece. Sophomore middle Caleb Blazer put up five of the team’s 9.5 blocks. Redshirt sophomore outside Jack Burton and senior outside Luke Turner served up two aces apiece.
Senior outside hitter Anthony Savage turned in a match-high seven kills, but hit just .050. Savage was the lone Limestone player to post a positive hitting effort and also accounted for the team’s only ace.
It Was Over When: GCU scored six-straight points, including four Limestone miscues and a Melcher/Blazer block, to go up 9-4. The Lopes boosted the advantage to 14 at 20-6 as Mosher added two kills and a block and Melcher turned in two putdowns and two stuffs. A service error offered a brief pause, but Grand Canyon finished off the sweep with a 5-1 run, including two Limestone errors. A kill and an ace by Mosher capped the 25-8 win.
#18 Stanford def. #12 Ball State 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-20)
- Stanford moves to 1-4; Ball State falls to 2-2
- Muncie, Indiana
- Ball State Recap / Stanford Recap
- Box Score
Key Statistics: Stanford outhit the homestanding Cardinals .245 to .066, despite being outblocked 11-8. The Cardinal outdid BSU 5-2 in aces and notched 13 more kills (40-27) en route to their first win of the season.
Stat Leaders: Freshman outside Jaylen Jasper paced Stanford with 17 kills on a .382 hitting effort and three aces. Sophomore outside Eric Beatty was next on the team with five putaways. Redshirt senior middle Kevin Rakestraw led the way at the net with five stuffs. Sophomore setter Paul Bischoff posted a 30-assist, 10-dig double-double.
Sophomore outside Blake Reardon was tops among Ball State players with seven kills, while senior outside Mitch Weiler and sophomore outside Matt Szews followed with five apiece. Eight players tallied kills in the match with six notching two or more. Senior middle Anthony Lebryk put up a match-high six blocks, while Weiler pulled up nine digs.
It Was Over When: Up just three at 17-14, Stanford put together a 4-1 run, including kills by Paul Bischoff, Jaylen Jasper and Kyler Presho. Ball State scored four of the next six to narrow the gap to four at 23-19, with help from three Cardinal miscues. A Jasper putaway put Stanford on the hill at 24-19. A service error kept the match going, but a Leo Henken kill closed out the sweep.
#10 Penn State def. Alderson-Broaddus 3-0 (25-20, 25-9, 25-15)
- Penn State moves to 2-0; Alderson-Broaddus falls to 0-2
- University Park, Pennsylvania
- Penn State Recap / Alderson-Broaddus Recap
- Box Score
Key Statistics: Penn State hit at a .527 clip, including .565 in Set 1 and .571 in Set 2. Alderson Broaddus hit .045 for the match, posting negative efforts after starting off with a .467 clip in Set 1.
The Nittany Lions also outserved the Battlers 7-1 and outdid them 35-24 in kills. Alderson Broaddus outblocked PSU 6.5 to 5.
Stat Leaders: Redshirt sophomore opposite Calvin Mende and redshirt senior outside Aiden Albrecht notched eight kills apiece to lead all hitters. Mende hit at an errorless .571 clip (8-0-14) and Albrecht followed at .462. Redshirt senior middle Kevin Gear downed six kills at a team-best .750 clip for PSU, while putting up a team-leading five blocks. Mende chipped in four stuffs and a team-best two aces.
Senior outside Francisco Cabrera turned in eight kills on a .389 hitting effort for Alderson-Broaddus, while freshman middle Chase Christiansen and senior middle Myles Miller added five apiece. Miller and Christiansen also put up three blocks apiece.
It was Over When: Penn State jumped out to a 15-6 start in Set 3 with help from six AB errors. Two blocks by Kevin Gear and two aces by Calvin Mende also aided the Nittany Lion effort. The Battlers cut the margin to seven three times, last at 18-11, but could not break through. Three more Alderson-Broaddus miscues put Penn State up 10 at 22-12 and put the match out of reach. A Frank Melvin putaway made it 24-14 and a service error capped the sweep two plays later.
#6 BYU def. #3 Ohio State 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 15-8)
Key Statistics: Twelve blocks and an efficient offense lifted No. 6 BYU past No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday night in a rematch of the 2017 NCAA title match. BYU outhit OSU .371 to .333 and outblocked the Buckeyes 12-3 to overcome a 64-53 deficit in kills and a 7-5 Ohio State lead in aces. Ohio State hit at an eye-popping .750 clip, downing 18 kills and no errors in 24 swings. BYU, however, outdid the Buckeyes the rest of the way.
Stat Leaders: Freshman opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez paced the Cougars with 19 kills, six blocks and two aces while hitting at a .282 clip. Senior outside hitter Brenden Sander chipped in 12 kill, four blocks and six digs, while senior middle Price Jarman added nine kills on an errorless .643 effort (9-0-14) and four stuffs. Sophomore middle Miki Jauhiainen also put up a team-leading six blocks alongside Fernandez.
Senior outside Maxime Hervoir (20), senior outside Nicolas Szerszen (19) and redshirt freshman opposite Jake Hanes (10) turned in double-digit kill efforts for the Buckeyes, while Hervoir and Szerszen hitting .369 and .361 respectively. Redshirt junior middle Blake Leeson chipped in nine kills on a .692 hitting effort (9-0-13). Szerszen served up three aces, while Hervoir and junior setter Sanil Thomas notched two apiece, but it was not enough.
It Was Over When: BYU hit just .143 in the decisive fifth set, but held Ohio State to a -.357 effort (2 kills, 7 errors, 14 swings) in the 15-8 win. Fernandez notched a kill and an ace to give the Cougars an early 3-0 edge. After tied at 3, 4 and 5, BYU pushed ahead with a 5-0 run. A trio of blocks, two by Fernandez, and a kill and block by Sander helped the Cougars to the 10-5 advantage. Kills by Sander and Fernandez made it 14-8 and an OSU hitting miscue clinched the match.
Leave a Reply