MERCED, Calif. - The University of California, Merced men's volleyball team hit over .375 once again and earned their fourth straight sweep with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-18) win over Simpson University on Monday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.

The Bobcats (4-0) four-match winning streak is their best since February of 2019 and head coach Ai Prachumsri's team is one of just four undefeated teams remaining in the NAIA (Grand View, BenU Mesa, Life).

After missing last match due to an injury, Ryan Steele was back in the lineup and came close to a three-set career-high with 35 assists. Steele ran the offense to a .386 success rate, the second highest of the 2021 campaign, while also adding season-high's of three kills and three blocks. Steele spread the ball around throughout the match and four different Bobcats tallied at least ten swings.

Ryan Kilgore and Chris Morikawa were Steele's top targets and the duo shared team-high with ten kills a piece. Kilgore accomplished his career-high kills total on just 17 attempts and didn't record an error, joining just Jacob Shelton as the only other player in program history to notch double figure kills without an error. One of the most efficient hitters in the nation, Kilgore's hitting percentage was calculated at .588 Monday night. The freshman has 19 kills without an error in the last two matches.

Morikawa put up double figure kills and hit over .300 for the third time this season. Morikawa, who hit .348, was also good for a season-high seven digs and tied his three-set career-high with three blocks. One of his three blocks was solo. 

Emmanuel Egun also played a huge role in the sweep as he pitched in a season-high eight kills on a .500 hitting percentage and added a three-set career-high seven blocks. Egun is the third player in the Cal Pac with at least six blocks in a match this year, but just the second to do so in a three-set affair. 

Lincoln Smith and Lance Nua each notched a season-high two blocks.

As a team, UC Merced's ten total blocks was the most in a three-set match since recording eleven against BenU Mesa on April 7, 2017.

The Bobcats first block on Monday night came from Egun and Steele and it put the Bobcats out in front 5-1 in the first set. Moments later, a 4-0 UC Merced run had the home team up 9-3. The early advantage allowed the Bobcats to lead the remainder of the set, a set in which Steele recorded all three of his blocks in. The biggest lead of the first set was seven points at 24-17. After a Simpson kill, Steele set Egun for set point and the Bobcats clinched their tenth consecutive set win. Out of the Bobcats first ten sets, only two of them were decided by less than five points.

After three lead changes early in the second set, Morikawa sparked the Bobcats with back-to-back kills and a 9-2 run put his team up 15-8. Morikawa also had two blocks during the surge, Egun and Nua had one. The Bobcats also led by seven points at 18-11 before the opponent closed the gap.

The Bobcats lead was trimmed to 19-15 and soon after was trimmed to just a point at 21-20. Morikawa delivered a much-needed kill for the Bobcats to regain a multi-point advantage, 22-20, but it was back to a point margin at the 24-23 mark. After a UC Merced timeout, Steele found Kilgore for set point and the Bobcats went up 2-0 in the match with a 25-23 win.

There were seven ties early in the third set and the tightly contested frame didn't see either team grab a lead larger than two points until the Bobcats did so at 15-12. The Bobcats only added to the lead from there and a Kilgore kill made it 18-13. An Egun solo block extended the Bobcats lead to six at 21-15. Egun was also responsible for the Bobcats 24th point via a kill, while Steele put an end to the match with an overkill to improve upon the Bobcats best start in program history.

Jared Guglielmana had four kills in the third set to help put the match away.

Looking ahead, the Bobcats host Pacific Union College on Sunday, March 7 at 4:30pm.