IRVINE, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's volleyball team fell in four sets (25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 27-25) to Westcliff University in the regular season finale on Sunday evening.

The Bobcats (9-13, 6-6) now look ahead to the California Pacific Conference Championships which start on Friday, March 31 at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Ariz. The fourth-seeded Bobcats, who officially clinched the postseason after a University of Saint Katherine loss on Sunday evening, will take on top-seeded Benedictine University Mesa. The Redhawks are currently the #1 team in the NAIA.

Chris Morikawa registered his third double-double and third 20+ kill performance of the year with 21 kills and ten digs. Morikawa's 21 kills puts him at a career-high 263 total kills on the 2023 campaign, good for the second highest mark in UC Merced history. Morikawa also notched his career-best 20^th service ace of the year. Also of note, the senior ended the night passing Ben Nilsen and Cole Smith for fourth in program history with 250 career sets played.

Toby Miller finished with 27 assists, six digs, and two blocks, one solo. Nathan Campbell added 12 assists and tied his season-high with two service aces.

Jozef Lingenfelter tied his career-high with three solo blocks and three service aces. The sophomore also had four kills and two block assists.

Brennan Taylor and Javy Larranaga had five kills each. Taylor hit that mark while operating at a .400 success rate.

Other notables include nine digs from Sebas Moreno, a solo block each from Jared Guglielmana and Larranaga, and a service ace from Dylan Jong. Moreno's nine digs tied his career-high.

Sunday marked the Bobcats first four-set match of the year in which every set was decided by three points or less.

In the opening set, the Bobcats jumped out to an early 6-2 lead and also led 12-10 before falling behind shortly after. The Bobcats then came back to even the score on multiple occasions, including at 20-20 before ultimately falling 25-22.

UC Merced also held an early lead in the second set, this time going up 8-3 highlighted by back-to-back solo blocks by Miller and Larranaga. Although the advantage slowly shrunk, the Bobcats managed to maintain the lead until Westcliff came back to tie it at 18-18 with four consecutive points. The Warriors scored two more points before a service error halted their 6-0 run, but they would still go on to win the frame and go up 2-0 in the match.

The Bobcats either led or were tied for the first 40 rallies of the third frame and were ultimately able to extend the match. Head coach Ai Prachumsri's team led by as many as five points as early as the 13-8 mark and as late as the 18-13 mark before Westcliff stormed back to take what would be their only lead of the set, 21-20. A Morikawa kill tied the frame at 21-21 and then a Larranaga kill followed by a Campbell service ace had the Bobcats ahead 23-21. A pair of Westcliff attack errors came shortly after that helped get the Bobcats their 25-23 set three win to extend the match. UC Merced hit a match-high .310 in the set win.

UC Merced was forced to play catchup for the majority of the fourth set and found themselves trailing 20-17 before a Lingenfelter service ace pulled the Bobcats even at 21-21 shortly after. The Bobcats also trailed 23-21 but scored three points in a row highlighted by a Morikawa kill to grab their first lead of the entire set, 24-23. Westcliff responded with back-to-back kills from their kills leader Mohamed Llias Lazaar but then a service error from the Llias Lazaar on match point extended the night. However, Westcliff won the match two rallies later after back-to-back blocks.

Up next, UC Merced will face #1 Benedictine University Mesa in the California Pacific Conference Championships Semifinals on Friday, March 31 at 2:00pm at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Ariz.