JAMESTOWN, N.D. – The University of California, Merced men's volleyball team earned their first win of the season with a sweep over Dordt University before falling in straight sets to Campbellsville in a two-match Friday at the Jamestown Invitational.
Match One: UC Merced 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 26-24) over Dordt
Jared Guglielmana registered a three-set career-high 14 kills on a .480 hitting percentage in the Bobcats sweep. The senior, who scored match point with one of his 14 kills, also had a solo block and a service ace to support his offensive efforts.
Ryan Kilgore pitched in seven kills, while Colin Ryan smacked a career-high six kills and hit .556.
Setters Toby Miller and Nathan Campbell registered 15 assists and 14 assists, respectively. Miller also had six digs and a solo block. Campbell's 14 assists marked his most in a UC Merced uniform.
Max Niederberger and Kaleb Cole led the blocking efforts with three blocks each.
Other notables include eight digs from Sebas Moreno, six digs from Jared Schnake, and three kills each without an error from Schnake and Niederberger.
UC Merced had to play catchup in set one but managed to do so by hitting .321 in the frame and exploding on a 9-2 run highlighted by Campbell quarterbacking the offense. The run erased an earlier four-point deficit and put the Bobcats up 18-15. The Bobcats were the first to 20 points, however found themselves trailing 23-22 shortly after. A Dordt service error tied the game, followed by a Kaleb Cole and Daniel Del Grande block to set up game point. UC Merced didn't score set point on the first try, but did so on their next attempt to go up 1-0 in the match.
UC Merced also had to play from behind in the second set with a 7-2 early deficit. The Bobcats first lead in the frame was 14-13 and they were able to double that lead at the 16-14 mark following a Ryan kill. Then tied 18-18, the Bobcats created separation with a 4-0 run highlighted by a block from Miller and Niederberger. Guglielmana secured the set with a kill for a 25-21 final.
The third set was tightly contested throughout. The Bobcats were either tied with Dordt or held a 1-2 point advantage for the first 39 rallies, until Dordt took their first lead of the frame at 20-19. Dordt then went up 23-20 and 24-22, but the Bobcats locked back in with the goal of finishing the sweep. Niederberger smacked a kill and then a Dordt attack error tied the score 24-24. Then, Guglielmana put the finishing touches on the sweep with back-to-back kills. Dylan Jong was behind the service line on the match-ending 4-0 run.
Match Two: UC Merced fell 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-18) to Campbellsville
Guglielmana tallied ten kills on a .333 hitting percentage, while Del Grande had four kills and a career-high three blocks in the Bobcats loss to Campbellsville.
Miller had 19 assists and two blocks in two sets and Campbell pitched in ten assists in the second set alone.
Other notables include five kills from Javy Larranaga, four kills from Kilgore, and six digs from Moreno.
Campbellsville was led by John-Marcos Gonzales (12 kills) and Joao Tavares (10 kills). Tavares reached his ten kills without an error on 12 attempts.
Overall, Campbellsville operated at a .479 success rate as a team. The team from Kentucky hit at least .522 in each of the first two sets.
The Bobcats were within two points midway through the first set before Campbellsville created separation in part due to the teams trading service errors and service aces. The Bobcats trailed 18-12 and then by as many as seven points at the 22-15 mark, ultimately falling 25-17.
The second set was similar to the first but this time the opponent pulled away with four kills in a five-rally stretch. A service ace then put Campbellsville up 16-10. The Bobcats were able to get back within four points at 22-18 but no closer than that and fell behind 2-0 in the match.
Campbellsville controlled the majority of the third frame jumping out to a 10-4 lead and remained in front by at least five points the rest of the night. The Bobcats did a solid job of staying within striking distance until the end, when they fell behind by eight points at 23-15. Prior to that, the deficit remained between 5-7.
Friday's meeting was the first ever between Campbellsville and UC Merced.
Up next, UC Merced will face another first-time opponent when they play Calumet College of St. Joseph at 9:00am PST on Saturday, February 3. The Bobcats will wrap up their five-match slate at the Jamestown Invitational with a rematch against the 13th-ranked Jamestown Jimmies at 1:30pm.
