MERCED, Calif. – The No. 12 seed University of California, Merced men's volleyball team will play No. 4 Missouri Baptist and No. 5 St. Thomas in Pool D of the NAIA Men's Volleyball National Championship April 29-30 at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The winner of the pool will advance to the semifinals.
UC Merced (10-12) and St. Thomas (23-1) are making their first ever appearance in the national championship. Missouri Baptist (26-5) returns to the field for the first time since 2021.
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FIRST SERVE
UC Merced is in the national tournament for the first time in program history after earning an automatic bid as California Pacific Conference Tournament Champions.
Over the last four years, the Cal Pac Tournament Champion has gone 7-1 in NAIA Pool Play and 10-4 across the whole tournament.
UC Merced is 5-2 in its last seven matches, its best seven-match stretch of the season and the best seven-match stretch at the end of the season since 2022.
The Bobcats have earned six sweeps this year which is the most since 2021. The six sweeps are also tied for the second most in program history.
UC Merced will play Missouri Baptist for the first time since 2014 and St. Thomas for the first time in program history. The Bobcats are a combined 8-12 all-time against the Heart of America Athletic Conference and Appalachian Athletic Conference, however they are 6-4 since 2017.
UC Merced is 0-3 this year against teams in the 2025 NAIA Men's Volleyball National Championship field, but did force a fifth set against the defending national champion Georgetown on a neutral site on January 24.
Head coach Ai Prachumsri has guided the Bobcats to eight Top 15 wins in his career, including beating two nationally-ranked opponents this year and two last year. Prachumsri's highest ranked win is over No. 4 St. Ambrose on March 16, 2018. UC Merced is 8-60 all-time against ranked opponents.
UC Merced is the only unranked team in the national tournament field. However, UC Merced has received votes in four weekly polls this season.
THE BOBCATS DEFENSE
The Bobcats are ranked No. 8 in the NAIA with 10.32 digs per set and 22nd with 2.11 blocks per set. The Bobcats haven't averaged 10.3 D/S and 2.1 B/S since 2016.
UC Merced has recorded double-digit blocks seven times this season, including five times in the last nine games. Head coach Ai Prachumsri's squad is coming off a 13-block performance in the Cal Pac Championship match, which is tied for the second highest blocks output in the last two years.
As for digs, the Bobcats have collected at least 60 digs in four different matches this year for the first time since 2020. Also of note, the Bobcats have tallied at least 60 digs and ten blocks against each of their last two Top 15 opponents.
Sebas Moreno was named the Cal Pac Defender of the Year and was selected twice as the Cal Pac Defensive Player of the Week. Jozef Lingenfelter was also named Cal Pac Defensive Player of the Week.
ALL-CAL PAC SELECTIONS
Cal Pac Defender of the Year Sebas Moreno is the only player in the NAIA averaging at least 2.6 digs per set, 1.0 assists per set, and 0.15 service aces per set in 2025. He is the only player in program history with 175+ digs in back-to-back seasons and he is ranked third in program history with 515 career digs and 58 career service aces. Moreno is 28 digs away from moving into the No. 2 spot.
Cal Pac Setter of the Year Toby Miller is the only player in the NAIA averaging at least 7.5 assists per set, 1.5 digs per set, 0.7 kills per set, and 0.4 blocks per set in 2025. He was named Cal Pac Setter of the Week three times this season. Miller is in his third year as the Bobcats starting setter and has tallied 500+ assists and 100+ digs in all three campaigns, joining Ryan Steele as the only other Bobcat to accomplish that feat.
All-Cal Pac Second Team selection Jozef Lingenfelter is one of just two players in the NAIA this year with at least 16 solo blocks and 1.9 digs per set, joining Grant Hoover of UHSP. Also of note, Lingenfelter is the first player in program history with at least 150 kills, 125 digs, and 16 solo blocks in a season. He earned both Cal Pac Attacker of the Week honors and Cal Pac Defensive Player of the Week honors in 2025. He has eight double-digit kill matches, seven double-digit dig matches, and has three kill/dig double-double's.
All-Cal Pac Second Team selection Gannon Connors leads the Bobcats with a UC Merced freshman record 0.30 service aces per set. Overall, he joins only Chris Morikawa (2021) as the only two players in program history to average at least 1.0 K/S, 1.0 D/S, and 0.3 SA/S.
All-Cal Pac Second Team selection Daniel Del Grande is the first Bobcat since Jacob Shelton in 2018 and one of just two players in the NAIA this season with at least 110 kills on a .360 hitting % or better, 13 solo blocks, and seven service aces this year. He joins just Britten Beallis of William Penn.
Cal Pac Honorable Mention Brennan Taylor is the only player in the NAIA with at least 14 solo blocks while playing in less than 45 sets. His 14 solo blocks are a career-high. All-time, Taylor is fifth in program history with 127 career blocks and is seventh with 31 solo blocks.
Cal Pac Coach of the Year Ai Prachumsri is just the fourth head coach in NAIA history to guide both his men's and women's teams to the NAIA National Championship in the same season joining Rich Schroeder of Aquinas in 2018-19, Matt Fishman of Indiana Tech in 2022-23, and Michael Talamentes of Park in 2022-23. Also of note, Prachumsri's 98 career men's volleyball wins are the fourth most of any active coach in the 2025 championship field.
K/S LEADER
Jared Guglielmana has two double-double's in his last four matches and leads the Bobcats with 2.48 K/S and is top three on the team with 1.52 D/S and 15 solo blocks. For his career, he is third in program history with 645 career kills, fourth with 39 solo blocks, and seventh with 343 digs. He was named the Cal Pac Newcomer of the Year in 2021 and earned All-Cal Pac First Team honors in 2024.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Missouri Baptist's 26 wins are tied for the second most in the NAIA this season and they have spent the entire year ranked inside the Top 10 of the NAIA Men's Volleyball Top 15 Coaches' Poll. MBU has won 12 of its last 13 matches.
Missouri Baptist is led by Heart of America Athletic Conference Co-Player of the Year Michael Olson who averages 3.6 K/S & 1.6 D/S.
Marko Jovanovic (3.5 K/S) was named HAAC Attacker of the Year, David Rudic (2nd in NAIA W/ 10.98 A/S) was named HAAC Setter of the Year, and Tom Young was named HAAC Coach of the Year. MBU was HAAC Co-Regular Season Champions and earned an at-large berth to the national tournament. Missouri Baptist is third in the NAIA with 13.4 kills per set and fourth with a .315 hitting percentage.
St. Thomas has won 23 consecutive matches in its inaugural season and have been nationally ranked in each of the last four polls. The 23-match winning streak is tied for the second longest active winning streak in the country.
St. Thomas is led by Appalachian Athletic Conference Player of the Year Kaelen Ingram. Ingram is second in the country with 4.3 K/S while hitting .426.
Matheus Collares (1st in NAIA W/ 11.89 A/S) was named AAC Setter of the Year, Gabriel Negrao (3.8 K/S) was named AAC Freshman of the Year, and Breno Eritty was named AAC Coach of the Year. St. Thomas earned an automatic bid after winning the AAC Regular Season and Tournament Championship in its inaugural season. St. Thomas is ranked No. 1 in the NAIA with 13.63 kills per set, 13.07 assists per set, and a .384 hitting percentage.
