MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's volleyball team fell in straight sets to nonconference opponent and third-ranked OUAZ on Thursday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium, 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 27-15.)
The Bobcats (9-12) nationally-ranked opponent was their seventh of the season, second top five.
Jozef Lingenfelter led the Bobcats efforts with nine kills on a .438 hitting percentage.
Lincoln Smith and Ryan Kilgore added three kills each.
Toby Miller had ten assists, six digs, and tied his career-high with three service aces. The junior setter has multiple aces in three consecutive matches.
Other notables include six assists from Nathan Campbell, five digs and four assists from Sebas Moreno, four digs and a service ace from Jared Schnake, and a solo block from Colin Ryan.
Addah Nestor and Emery Outin led OUAZ with 14 and 12 kills, respectively. The two each hit .455. Setter Zeo Meyer had 37 assists and eight digs.
OUAZ jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the first set, but the Bobcats hung around and stayed within four points until very late in the frame. The Bobcats managed to cut the deficit to one point on multiple occasions, and were within two down the stretch at 21-19 following a couple Kilgore kills. However, OUAZ ended the set on a 4-0 run with the help of Nestor to take a 1-0 match lead.
Back-to-back Miller aces put the Bobcats in front 5-2 in the second set. Later on, a 3-0 UC Merced spurt highlighted by a Lingenfelter kill extended the lead to four points at 11-7, but OUAZ countered to pull even at 12-12. UC Merced would attempt to pull away again and went up by as many as five points before OUAZ showed more resiliency and tied the game once more, 21-21. Then, the Bobcats went up 24-23 but couldn't score set point and OUAZ reeled off three straight to complete the comeback and go up 2-0 in the match.
Set three was tied 6-6 before OUAZ scored six of the next seven points to create separation. The Spirit followed with a 4-0 run shortly after to go up 16-9 and their advantage grew to eight at 20-12. OUAZ's biggest lead was nine points at 24-15 before finishing the job 25-17.
The Bobcats loss snapped a five-match winning streak.
Up next, UC Merced will host Cal Pac opponent Westcliff University on Friday, March 21. First serve from the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium in Merced, Calif., is scheduled for 6:00pm.
