MERCED, Calif. – The top-seeded University of California, Merced men's volleyball team recorded a .405 hitting percentage and tallied eight blocks to sweep the #4 seed University of Saint Katherine in the California Pacific Conference Championship Semifinals on Friday afternoon inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium, 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 28-26).
With the win, the Bobcats (13-14) will play in the Cal Pac Tournament Championship match for the third time in four years and will look to claim the program's first ever tournament title on Saturday. The Bobcats won their first ever Cal Pac Regular Season Championship earlier this year.
Three Bobcats finished with eleven kills and all three maintained a .380 hitting percentage or better on Friday. Overall, the Bobcats .405 mark was their second highest of the season and best-ever in six combined Cal Pac Tournament matches.
Ryan Kilgore had eleven kills hitting .611 (11/0/18). The senior, who has two double figure kill matches this year without committing an attack error, also had two blocks.
Jared Guglielmana operated at a .409 mark to reach eleven kills. Defensively, he had seven digs and a solo block. The Madera, Calif., native reached two milestones in the victory as he became the fifth Bobcat all-time to reach 500 career kills and the first Bobcat in program history to have 225+ kills and 150+ digs in the same season.
Jared Schnake, who scored match point with one of his eleven kills, finished with a .381 hitting percentage to go along with six digs, four assists, three blocks, and a service ace.
Brennan Taylor was good for five kills and four blocks, while Daniel Del Grande added three kills and two blocks.
Nathan Campbell and Toby Miller had 15 and 14 assists, respectively.
Other notables include eight digs from Sebas Moreno and two blocks from Campbell. With Moreno's efforts, the junior passed Joseph Webb for seventh in program history with 322 career digs.
After a few ties and lead changes in the early stages of the opening frame, UC Merced managed to take the lead for good with a 5-0 run that put the Bobcats up 12-9 at the time. The Bobcats also led by three points on a couple other occasions and then extended the lead to 19-15 following a Schnake kill. The margin was back and forth between 3-4 points leading up to set point, which was captured on the second try via a Guglielmana kill.
The Bobcats never trailed in the second set and reached double figures first leading 10-7 following a Taylor kill. Head coach Ai Prachumsri's team extended their advantage to five points at 17-12 and made it a six-point cushion shortly after. The Bobcats forced USK to call a timeout leading 21-15 and right out of the quick break Schnake beat the defense to extend the lead some more. After a brief USK spurt, Kilgore finished off the set with a kill to put the Bobcats up 2-0 in the match.
The third set was extremely tight throughout and both teams traded sideouts and one-point leads resulting in a 10-10 tie after 20 rallies. A similar pattern continued but it was the Bobcats to reach 20 points first while holding a 20-19 advantage. Then, Taylor and Campbell combined to block the Cal Pac Newcomer of the Year Jack LeDuff to double the lead at 21-19. A USK attack error followed before the Firebirds managed to sideout. Shortly after, the Bobcats led 23-20 and then broke a 23-23 tie to give themselves an opportunity for match point. USK didn't bow out and forced extra points. UC Merced would need 28 points to win it. Del Grande scored the Bobcats 27th point with a kill, and then Schnake got it done right after that with his eleventh kill to officially earn the semifinal sweep.
The Bobcats improved to 3-3 all-time in Cal Pac Tournament matches. Also of note, UC Merced improved to 12-1 all-time against USK which is the most wins against a single opponent in program history.
Up next, the Bobcats will play Westcliff University in the California Pacific Conference Championship match on Saturday, April 20, at 2:00pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium. The winner will earn the Cal Pac's automatic berth to the NAIA National Championships.
