Two matches highlighted men’s volleyball action Monday evening. #14 Concordia-Irvine defeated Harvard in four sets, while Charleston won a sloppy affair in Tigerville, South Carolina to knock off North Greenville in five sets.
#14 Concordia-Irvine def. Harvard, 3-1 (25-13, 15-25, 25-21, 25-19)
Key Stats: The most telling stat on the night in Irvine was CUI’s ability to terminate points with excellent efficiency. The Eagles had only 7 hitting errors all evening, recording a .348 hitting percentage to Harvard’s .206. Subtract the four blocks the Crimson produced, and Concordia-Irvine had only 3 unforced hitting errors.
Stat Leaders: CUI’s Raymond Barsemian led all attackers with 16 kills on .295 hitting. Barsemian just missed recording a double-double with 9 digs to go along with 3 blocks. Hunter Howell pounded a career-high 14 kills on 20 errorless swings for a .700 hitting percentage. Howell also had 3 blocks. Rounding out the double-digit kill producers for the Eagles was Darcy Taig with 11 kills on .300 hitting. Taig also contributed 3 blocks. Leading the defense at the net was Taylor Falduti with a match-high 5 blocks. Setter Chandler Gibb distributed a match-high 40 assists and team-highs of 15 digs and 2 aces to pace the Eagles. Gibb also was in on 3 blocks.
Harvard, playing in their last match on their West Coast trip, fought hard and took a set off of another ranked opponent. The Crimson also lost in 4 sets on Sunday evening to USC. Brad Gretsch once again led Harvard with 15 kills on .302 hitting, adding 6 digs and Harvard’s only solo block of the match. Erik Johnsson put away 11 kills, while earning a double-double with 13 digs. Libero Chase Howard dug a match-high 18 balls. The Crimson’s 6-2 offense was led by Matthew Ctvrtlik with 26 assists, 16 digs and 3 kills. Marko Kostich, the other setter in the 6-2, finished with 15 assists, 8 digs, 4 kills and a team-high 3 blocks.
It Was Over When: Harvard started set four with 3 straight attack errors, including the first two being unforced. CUI’s next four points scored were all Eagle kills, and the 7-2 run to start set 4 was too much to overcome for the Crimson. It was fitting that the match ended on an unforced hitting error by Harvard.
Charleston def. North Greenville, 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 18-25, 25-15, 18-16)
- Charleston improves to 9-4; North Greenville falls to 9-11
- Tigerville, South Carolina
- Charleston recap/North Greenville recap
- Box score
Key Stats: As the match in Irvine was based on offensive efficiency, a lack of offensive efficiency dictated the outcome of the match on the other side of the country. Neither team scored more than 11 kills in any one set. Additionally, UC’s 14 aces kept the Golden Eagles alive when they were down 2-1, recording 4 aces in set 4 to go along with NGU’s 5 service errors in the same set. NGU stayed in the match, however, by outblocking UC, 10-6. Neither team hit over .150 on the night, with NGU’s .144 besting UC’s .119.
Stat Leaders: UC’s Max Senica led the Golden Eagles with 12 kills. He also set a school record with 6 aces on the night. Senior outside hitter Rajahl Moxey also recorded his 500th career kill Monday night during his 3 sets of play. Setter Anthony Rivera dished out 42 assists on the night. Adriel Roberts finished with a match-high 5 blocks, including UC’s only 2 solo blocks. Libero Darrin Depellegrini contributed a team-high 10 digs.
NGU’s Matthew McManaway put away a season- and match-high 17 kills on .448 hitting. No other Crusader had more than 7 kills, and no other regular NGU attacker hit over .180 on the night. Libero Dustin King dug a match-high 11 balls in defense. Jackson Gilbert led the net defense with a team-high 4 blocks. Setter Jake Boldog finished with 37 assists, 6 digs and 3 blocks.
It Was Over When: It seemed fitting that the last four points scored in the match were all errors. NGU had match point at 15-14 in the fifth, but a UC kill tied it at 15-all. The remaining points were, in order, a hitting error by NGU, a service error by UC, a service error by NGU and an unforced hitting error by NGU.
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