Home court advantage and high powered offenses ruled the day on Saturday afternoon as No. 6 Loyola, No. 10 Lewis, Barton and Mount Olive all notched victories hitting .283 or better as a team.
Barton hit .449, Loyola came in with a .436 clip and Mount Olive added a .418 effort. Lewis hit .283 in its victory, but did so including a .393 clip in Set 4.
MATCH STATS
- Barton def. Emmanuel 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-16)
- Barton moves to 2-5; Emmanuel falls to 2-5
- Wilson, N.C.
- Box Score
- Emmanuel Recap / Barton Recap
Key Stats: Barton hit .526 in Set 2 and at an errorless .737 clip in Set 3 en route to a .449 effort for the match, while holding Emmanuel to a .219 effort. The Bulldogs also were tops in kills (40-31), aces (5-3) and blocks (5-2.5).
Stat Leaders: The Mandilaris brothers, sophomore right side Angelos and junior outside Vasilis, paced the Bulldogs with 14 and 10 kills respectively with both hitting over .450. Angelos hit .458 while Vasilis came in with a .529 effort and managed five digs. Junior outside Aleksa Brkovic added seven kills, while junior middle Justice Lord accounted for a team-best three blocks and two aces.
Three Emmanuel players notched eight or more kills: sophomore outsides Aleksa Lakic (9) and Manuel Melenciano (8) and sophomore middle Alejandro Robles (8). Malenciano hit at a team-best .462 clip, while Lakic hit .375 and Robles turned in a .267 effort. Junior setter Caleb Bonaventure just missed a double-double with 27 assists and eight digs.
It Was Over When: Barton led 15-8 midway through Set 3 with three kills each by Angelos Mandilaris and Brkovic and five Emmanuel miscues. A Robles kill cut the margin to six at 15-9, but the Lions would get no closer. Up 20-14, the Bulldogs finished off the match with five of the final seven points, including a Vasilis Mandilaris ace and two Emmanuel errors, including a set-clinching hitting miscue.
MATCH STATS
- #10 Lewis def. #11 UC Santa Barbara 3-1 (3-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-23)
- Lewis moves to 5-3; UCSB falls to 3-3
- Romeoville, Illinois
- Box Score
- UCSB Recap / Lewis Recap
Key Stats: Lewis hit at a match-best .393 clip in Set 4 en route to a .283 effort for the match, while outblocking UCSB 13-7. The Gauchos won the serve 7-5 in aces, while hitting .191 on the afternoon.
Stat Leaders: Redshirt sophomore outside Ryan Coenen led a trio of Flyers with double-digit kill efforts, each hitting nearly .300. Coenen downed 15 kills, hit .286 and added nine digs, four blocks and two aces, while redshirt junior opposite Mitch Perinar (12) and redshirt freshman middle TJ Murray (10) followed offensively. Perinar hit at a .417 clip and put up seven blocks, while Murray notched a team-best .667 effort (10-0-15) and also accounted for seven stuffs.
Sophomore middle Keenan Sanders pounded down 24 of UCSB’s 48 kills, while junior outside Corey Chavers added nine. Sanders hit at a .302 clip and added eight digs, while Chavers also chalked up eight saves. Freshman outside Henry Hancock and sophomore setter Casey McGarry served up two aces apiece, while McGarry also recorded 41 assists, nine digs and a team-best four blocks. Redshirt freshman middle Jack Truman also put up four blocks.
It Was Over When: Although Lewis led by as many as five in Set 4, this one was not decided until the final point. The Flyers went up 5-1 early as the Gauchos made three errors and Matt Yoshimoto added an ace. The lead shrunk to two four times, but Lewis held the advantage. Down 13-10, Connor Drake and Sanders notched kills to make it 13-12. A McGarry ace and two Chavers kills kept UCSB close at 20-18 Flyers. A stuff by Julian Moses and Tyler Mitchem and Dalen Instenes kill pushed Lewis ahead 23-18. The Gauchos notched five of the next six points, including three to thwart match-point tries, to cut the margin to one at 24-23 on a Hnacock ace. Coenen came through with the final kill for the Flyers.
MATCH STATS
- #6 Loyola def. #8 Cal State Northridge 3-1 (26-24, 25-16, 22-25, 25-17)
- Loyola moves to 6-2; CSUN falls to 5-3
- Chicago, Illinois
- Box Score
- CSUN Recap / Loyola Recap
Key Stats: Loyola bookended the match with amazing hitting efforts, notching a .636 clip in Set 1 and a .591 effort in Set 4 en route to its fourth straight win. The Ramblers hit .436 for the match to Northridge’s .275 effort. Loyola tallied nine more kills (56-47) and one more block (8-7). Both teams served up eight aces. The Matadors outhit Loyola .233 to .156 in a 25-22 Set 3 win.
Stat Leaders: Junior outside Collin Mahan (19), senior opposite Ricky Gevis (16) and senior middle Jeff Jendrick (12) combined for 47 of Loyola’s 56 kills, each posting double-digit dig efforts and hitting nearly .400 or better. Mahan hit .394 to go with three aces and six digs, Gevis hit .519 and added five stuffs, while Jendryk hit at a team-high .647 clip. Junior middle Paul Narup put up at a team-leading six blocks.
Senior opposite Arvis Greene racked up 20 kills and two aces, while junior outside Dimitar Kalchev added 13 kills and a team-best four aces to lead CSUN. Junior middle Eric Chance chipped in five kills and a team-high four blocks.
It Was Over When: Loyola started the final set with a 7-2 run, including two aces by Devin Joslyn, and never relinquished the lead from there. Northridge cut the margin to two at 7-5 and 8-6 but could not break through. The Rambler lead stood at six midway through at 15-9 after kills by Joslyn, Gevis and Jendryk and three Matador miscues. A Mahan ace and two Gevis kills upped the advantage to nine at 22-13. A pair of Jendryk putaways made it set point at 24-16 and Mahan finished the job two points later.
MATCH STATS
- Mount Olive def. Erskine 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-19)
- Mount Olive moves to 2-3; Erskine falls to 0-6
- Mount Olive, North Carolina
- Box Score
- Erskine Recap / Mount Olive recap
Key Stats: Mount Olive won every statistical category except digs, most notably hitting percentage (.418 to .195), making just five hitting errors in the sweep. The Trojans hit .481 with no errors in 27 attempts in Set 1, while also besting the Flying Fleet in kills (38-31), aces (6-3) and blocks (7-3) for the match. Erskine outdid UMO 35-27 in digs.
Stat Leaders: Senior opposite Robert Poole carried the offensive load for the Trojans, posting 15 kills on a .520 hitting effort to go with five digs, two solo blocks and two aces. Freshman middle Luke Visgitis notched eight kills, hitting .889 with no errors in nine swings. Freshman middle Jerell Rogers put up three blocks and two aces, while senior opposite Bret Rutledge and Poole also recorded two perfect serves.
Freshman outsides Kevin Braceros and Daniel Hermida led Erskine with nine and seven kills respectively. Braceros hit at a team-leading .358 clip, while also adding six digs. Freshman outside Josh Bragg (5), sophomore middle Absalon Williams (5) and freshman middle JP Payne (4) rounded out the offense.
It Was Over When: Mount Olive led by as many as five at 10-5 with help from two kills and an ace by Poole and two stuffs by Rogers. Erskine narrowed the gap to two six times, last at 20-18, as five players notched kills and UMO made six errors. The Trojans stopped the comeback short with five of the final six points. A kill and a block by Rogers and three Erskine errors capped the win.
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