MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's volleyball team will begin the 2025 season on Thursday against three Top 15 opponents at the Saint Xavier University Tournament.
The Bobcats will face No. 15 Indiana Tech (Jan. 23), No. 4 Georgetown (Jan. 24), and No. 2 Saint Xavier (Jan. 25).
All three games will have a livestream and live stats available.
FIRST SERVE
UC Merced will face all three teams for the first time in program history.
This marks the second straight season the Bobcats open the season with nationally-ranked opponents.
UC Merced has six Top 15 wins in program history, including two last season (#7 Benedictine Mesa, #14 Benedictine Mesa)
The Bobcats are receiving votes in the NAIA Men's Volleyball Coaches' Top 15 Poll – Preseason.
The Bobcats are coming off their first California Pacific Conference Regular Season Championship in program history.
Head coach Ai Prachumsri heads into his eighth year at the helm and welcomes back four of his top five players in every statistical category including kills, assists, service aces, digs, and blocks. Ken Shaw, in his first year, joins Prachumsri on the sidelines.
UC Merced finished the 2024 campaign with a 13-15 overall record and a 10-2 mark in the Cal Pac. UC Merced set program records with 1,003 digs and 219 blocks and neared a record with 1,161 kills and 124 service aces. Also of note, the Bobcats 219 blocks were the most ever by a NAIA program in California and it ranked 16th in the nation in 2024.
THE ROSTER
Returning All-Cal Pac First Team selection Jared Guglielmana headlines the Bobcats coming off a year in which he tallied a career-high 257 kills, 156 digs, and 15 solo blocks. He was the first player in program history with 250+ kills and 150+ digs in a season. Over his whole career, the fifth-year Bobcat is ranked fourth in program history with 2.34 kills per set and is fifth with 516 career kills.
All-Cal Pac Second Team honoree Jared Schnake finished top three on the Bobcats with 155 kills, 171 digs, and 22 service aces. He was a 2X Cal Pac Player of the Week.
Additionally, the Bobcats return their top setter in Toby Miller who had 545 assists and 5.8 assists per set last season. He has led the Bobcats in assists in each of the last two seasons and is currently third in program history with 1,198 career assists. Also of note, Miller tallied 120 digs and 21 blocks. He was tabbed Cal Pac Honorable Mention.
Sebas Moreno broke the program's single-season service aces record last year with 27 service aces and had the third most digs by any Bobcat all-time, collecting 226. He also played in a program-record 103 sets.
UC Merced welcomes back three of its top four blockers in Max Niederberger (44), Daniel Del Grande (42), and Brennan Taylor (41). Del Grande averaged nearly a block per set, 0.95 B/S, the best B/S mark for any Bobcat since 2017. Colin Ryan led the middle blockers offensively with 73 kills on a .295 hitting percentage.
Dylan Jong played in 95 sets as a defensive specialist in 2024. Kaleb Cole and Mason Stokes, who were the Bobcats only freshman last year, averaged over a kill per set in limited action. Jozef Lingenfelter is fifth in program history with a .306 hitting percentage and is eighth with 31 career service aces.
UC Merced returns 12 players from a year ago and welcome eight newcomers. Six of the newcomers are freshman.
Of the two non-freshman, Angelo Le joins UC Merced from University of Charleston and Kam Owens hits the hardwood standing at 6'10" after sprinting for the UC Merced outdoor track program one year ago. The freshman: Brayden Van Kuren, George Buljan, Pomaikainokeakua Kahaulelio, Donovan Guglielmana, Gannon Connors, Cody Evans.
UC Merced graduated All-Cal Pac First Team selection Ryan Kilgore. Javy Larranaga, Nathan Campbell, Lincoln Smith, and Kaikoa Soma also graduated.
SCOUTING INDIANA TECH
No. 15 Indiana Tech finished 26-6 a year ago and 14-4 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference. Indiana Tech finished runner-up in the conference tournament. Thursday's match against the Bobcats marks the season opener, but Indiana Tech has played exhibitions against Purdue Fort Wayne and Trine University.
Ben Rosenow is the Warriors top offensive returner having put away 1.74 K/S on a .246 hitting percentage in 2024.
Jacob Carrico, although was limited in action to just half of the sets last year, is back in a Warrior uniform after recording a team-best 1.98 D/S and 0.42 SA/S. Alex Rosenow had a team-high 199 total digs.
Nolan Bosley leads all returning setters as he averaged 3.71 A/S across 24 total sets and nine matches a season ago.
After losing the majority of its lineup, Indiana Tech rebuilt with the largest recruiting class in program history. Indiana Tech brought in 14 players, including NCAA Division I transfers Kristian Kold (Ohio State) and Logan Gieseke (Quincy)
Head coach Jordan Rosenberg is in his second season with Indiana Tech. Indiana Tech is his first head coaching job, having previously served as an assistant coach at Carthage College.
ABOUT GEORGETOWN
No. 4 Georgetown is the reigning NAIA National champion, sweeping top-seeded The Master's University by set scores of 25-23, 25-18, 25-20 for the first red banner in program history. They open the season against SXU on Thursday.
Georgetown played to a 28-6 overall record last year and went 9-1 in the Mid-South Conference. Georgetown also won its third straight Mid-South Conference Tournament Championship.
Georgetown returns Mid-South Conference Setter of the Year Finn Heinemann. Heinemann averaged 10.07 assists per set racking up 705 total assists. He also averaged a team-best 0.84 SA/S to go along with 1.41 D/S and 0.27 B/S.
Adam Szewinski sports the Tigers uniform again a year after averaging 1.59 K/S on a .482 hitting percentage and 0.92 blocks per set.
Michael Bak, Jose Acuna Yepes, and Miguel Ariza Vega all tallied 60+ kills and were solid defensively in limited action for the Tigers in 2024.
Jack Stark took over the Georgetown program on July 17, 2024. Prior to Georgetown, he started the men's volleyball program at Warren Wilson College and spent one year at the helm. Stark was an All-Mid South Conference setter at St. Andrews from 2017-20.
SAINT XAVIER AT A GLANCE
No. 2 SXU posted a perfect 10-0 record in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference and finished 23-9 overall last season. SXU claimed its fifth straight CCAC Tournament Championship. They open the season against Georgetown on Thursday.
2024 NAIA Second Team All-American and CCAC Libero of the Year Andres Velez returns after averaging 3.03 D/S and maintaining a .954 reception percentage on 569 attempts.
Returning setter Cameron Daniels (4.8 A/S in 2024) has a plethora of talent rejoining him in 2025.
Long Beach native Matt Pennala highlights the front row after averaging 3.47 K/S, 1.52 D/S, 0.55 B/S, and 0.35 SA/S a season ago.
SXU also returns Sean Carey (1.8 K/S), Alessandro Gianotti (1.49 K/S, .401 hit %), and Drew Ehlers (1.39 K/S, .371 hit %). Gianotti and Ehlers also combined to average 1.8 blocks per set.
SXU alum Tom Ryan is in his seventh season as the head coach. Ryan has a compiled a 126-46 career record with five national tournament appearances.
VS. THESE THREE CONFERENCES
Although the Bobcats have never played any of its three opponents this week, the Bobcats have fared well against members of the respective conferences. UC Merced is a combined 7-4 against the WHAC, Mid-South Conference and CCAC. Of note, the Bobcats beat No. 4 St. Ambrose 3-0 on March 16, 2018 and No. 6 St. Ambrose on February 1, 2019. St. Ambrose is a CCAC member.
RECORD BOOK WATCH
Jared Guglielmana – 21 kills away from being on third on the program's all-time kills list with 537 career kills.
Jared Guglielmana – Three solo blocks away from being seventh on the program's all-time solo blocks list with 27 career solo blocks.
Sebas Moreno – Six service aces away from being third on the program's all-time aces list with 53 career service aces.
Sebas Moreno – 24 assists away from being eighth on the program's all-time assists list with 144 career assists.
Brennan Taylor – One block away from being seventh on the program's all-time blocks list with 100 career blocks.
