REDDING, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's volleyball team beat Simpson in four sets on Wednesday night, 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 25-11, 27-25) inside the James M. Grant Center.
The Bobcats (3-3) road win marked their first of the season.
Mason Stokes led the Bobcats with 12 kills, seven digs, and a career-high five service aces. He is the first Bobcat with at least five service aces in a road match since Kainoa Ferguson and Emmanuel Egun on March 23, 2021. Stokes' kills and digs output marked a four-set career-high. The Fresno, Calif., native finished with a .313 hitting percentage.
Joshua Woodhams turned in his first kill in Bobcat uniform and tallied ten kills, two digs, two blocks, and one service ace on the night. One of his two blocks was solo. Woodhams played in the final three sets.
Jozef Lingenfelter added nine kills without an error on 14 swings for a career-best .643 hitting percentage. He also had three digs, a solo block, and his first service ace of the season.
Cody Krohn saw his first true career setting duties and finished with 24 assists, five digs, two kills, and a solo block.
Toby Miller added 13 assists, two digs, one kill, and a solo block.
Kaleb Cole, Daniel Del Grande, and Max Niederberger pitched in four kills apiece. Niederberger also had a career-high six digs. Cole had four digs, while Del Grande had two blocks, one solo. Sean Ethan Blas had four digs.
Del Grande's solo block moved him into a tie with Emmanuel Egun for ninth in program history with 30 career solo blocks.
After a couple early ties and lead changes in the opening set, Donovan Guglielmana put the Bobcats up 5-4 and the squad led the rest of the frame. Up 10-9 a little later, Stokes led a 10-4 run that put the Bobcats up by a set-high seven points at 20-13. Stokes had two kills, a service ace, and an assist in the run. Simpson responded with five straight points to pull within two. The Red Hawks kept battling and got within one, 22-21. Stokes doubled the Bobcats lead with a kill and then two plays later Miller ended the set with a solo block for the 25-21 set one victory.
The Bobcats never led in the second set and were limited to a .067 hitting percentage. UC Merced couldn't fully recover after falling behind 15-7 after an 8-1 Simpson run. Stokes and Lingenfelter were able to string a couple kills together during a late 6-2 Bobcats spurt, but the closest the Bobcats got was within four points, 22-18.
UC Merced dominated the third set and took control early with a 10-0 run to go up 12-2 with Stokes behind the service line. He had four aces and a kill in the explosion. UC Merced extended its lead to 13 points at 17-4 after Woodhams first career ace. Later on, back-to-back kills from Del Grande and Stokes put the Bobcats up 22-9. A Del Grande solo block shortly after marked the Bobcats biggest lead of the frame, 15 points at 24-9. Del Grande also scored set point, 25-11. UC Merced hit .312 and limited Simpson to a -.074 mark, holding them to just five kills.
Set four was back and forth for its entirety and featured 14 ties and six lead changes. The Bobcats led by two points on four occasions early on before all the ties and lead changes followed. Two points was the biggest lead of the set. Simpson was the first team to ten points but the Bobcats were the first to 15 points while leading 15-13. The Bobcats trailed 19-18 a little later before back-to-back kills from Niederberger and Lingenfelter got the Bobcats to 20 points first, up 20-19. UC Merced's first match point opportunity came at 24-22. Simpson forced extra points by scoring the next three points, going up 25-24. Niederberger tied the game 25-25 with a kill and then a Simpson attack error gave the Bobcats another opportunity at match point. Woodhams delivered a kill for match point, his first collegiate match point and finishing off the Bobcats first road win. UC Merced hit .452 in the final frame.
UC Merced finished the match hitting .254 and had 14 more kills than Simpson, finishing with 50 overall. The Bobcats also won the service aces battle 6-3 and the blocking game 6-3.
Up next, UC Merced will play at tenth-ranked UC San Diego on Monday, February 16. First serve from LionTree Arena in La Jolla, Calif., is scheduled for 2:00pm.
