CHICAGO, Ill. – The University of California, Merced men's volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-16) to No. 2 Saint Xavier University at the SXU Tournament finale on Saturday afternoon.
Jozef Lingenfelter led the Bobcats (1-2) efforts with eight kills, ten digs, and two solo blocks.
Jared Guglielmana and Kaleb Cole finished with nine and seven kills, respectively. Cole also had two blocks, one solo.
Toby Miller had 14 assists, while Sebas Moreno had an impressive 16 digs to become just the third Bobcat in program history with at least 16 digs three different times in his career. He joins Zach Brill and Matthew Pelfini.
Other notables include seven assists and three digs from Brayden Van Kuren in his collegiate debut, six digs from Mason Stokes, and three kills from Daniel Del Grande.
The Bobcats recorded just a .062 hitting percentage, while SXU operated at a .290 success rate. The Bobcats also went without a service ace.
UC Merced fell behind 9-2 in the first set and wasn't able to recover. Head coach Ai Prachumsri's team got within four points at 12-8, but then fell back behind again by a significant margin trailing 20-11. An 8-3 UC Merced run highlighted by back-to-back Lingenfelter points came too late as the Bobcats lost the opening set 25-18.
SXU, winners of five straight Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championships, led by double digits in the second set at 17-7. Guglielmana had two late kills for the Bobcats to try to spark a spurt, but the Bobcats fell behind 2-0 in the match with a 25-11 loss.
SXU made it even tougher on the Bobcats in the third set hitting .447 in the frame with 19 kills and just two errors. The Bobcats were within three points at 11-8 with the help of Cole, but a 4-0 Cougar run followed to double the advantage. It was at least a six-point SXU lead the rest of the way as the tournament host finished off the sweep.
Saturday marked the Bobcats first ever match against SXU.
Up next, the Bobcats will play at former NAIA powerhouse Vanguard University on Thursday, January 30 in Costa Mesa, Calif. First serve is scheduled for 7:00pm inside the Freed Center for Leadership.
