ANGWIN, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's volleyball team won back-to-back matches for the first time this season with a 3-1 win over Pacific Union College on Thursday night inside Pacific Auditorium.
The Bobcats (5-9, 3-1) hit .344 as a team and recorded ten blocks. With the offensive success rate, the Bobcats have hit .300 or better in two consecutive contests for the first time since February 2023. Also of note, the Bobcats ten blocks ties the second highest output of the season.
Jozef Lingenfelter led the Bobcats with 13 kills, a service ace, and a solo block.
Gannon Connors stayed hot posting eleven kills on a .429 hitting percentage to go along with a career-high four blocks, including two solo.
Daniel Del Grande matched his career-high with nine kills and became the first Bobcat since 2020 to hit over .650 with a minimum of ten attempts, finishing with a .692 mark. He added four blocks, his third straight match with at least three blocks.
Colin Ryan added seven kills hitting .600 (7/1/10) and a solo block, while Kaleb Cole had five kills and seven digs.
Toby Miller finished with a season-high 41 assists. His quarterbacking efforts were complemented by six digs, three blocks, and two kills.
Sebas Moreno pitched in nine digs which moved him ahead of Chris Morikawa for fourth on the program's all-time digs list with 446 career digs.
Tied 8-8 in the first set, the Bobcats got a 4-0 burst capped by a block from Cole and Del Grande. Leading 20-17 later on, PUC turned in a 4-0 run of their own to take a late lead at 21-20. A Lingenfelter kill tied the game and the Bobcats were serving for set point in a hurry after a 3-0 run, leading 24-22. However, the Pioneers forced extra points before the Bobcats were able to prevail 26-24. The Bobcats hit .364 in the frame.
UC Merced fell behind 10-3 in the second set after six PUC service aces. Connors started to garner momentum for the Bobcats with a couple kills and it led to a 7-2 UC Merced run to come within two points. The Bobcats stayed within striking distance, but PUC was the first team to 20 points and they held a 20-17 lead. Then, Lingenfelter sparked a 4-0 run with a kill that gave UC Merced a 21-20 lead. PUC refused to go away, tying the game one play later and then had an opportunity for set point on top 24-23. PUC committed a service error, but the Bobcats followed with back-to-back attack errors to fall 26-24.
There were 14 ties and five lead changes in the third set with the majority of them coming after PUC used a 5-1 run to take a 14-13 lead. A PUC service error pulled the Bobcats even at 14-14, and then the score was tied at every number from 14-20. Tied 20-20, PUC followed with a 4-2 mini run and were on the verge of going up 2-1 in the match. However, PUC couldn't close the set out and committed two straight attack errors that extended the set into extra points. UC Merced successfully staved off set points trailing 25-24 and 26-25. Miller tied the game 26-26 with a dump and then set up Connors for a kill to put the Bobcats up by one. Looking to capture set point, Lingenfelter delivered an out of system kill for a 28-26 set three win.
The Bobcats dominated the fourth set getting back-to-back Del Grande kills to open the frame and never looked back. Shortly after, head coach Ai Prachumsri's team put together a 6-0 run highlighted by three Lingenfelter points to go up 13-4. A Brayden Van Kuren service ace extended the lead to double-digits at 17-7. The Bobcats shut the door on the Pioneers with a late 7-0 run. Both Lingenfelter and Connors recorded two points in the final surge that helped the Bobcats win the set 25-11. UC Merced hit .409 in the frame, while holding PUC to -.138.
UC Merced limited PUC to a .107 hitting percentage. The Bobcats had eight more blocks and six more digs than the Pioneers on the night.
With the win, the Bobcats improved to 10-0 all-time against PUC.
Looking ahead, UC Merced will play at Menlo College on Friday, March 14. First serve is scheduled for 6:00pm inside Haynes-Prim Pavilion in Atherton, Calif.
