COSTA MESA, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's volleyball team came up short in the road trip opener on Friday, falling 3-0 at Vanguard by set scores of 25-14, 25-14, and 25-22.
Joshua Woodhams led the Bobcats (3-10, 0-4) with nine kills, a season-high seven digs, a block, and a service ace.
Mason Stokes scored five kills and an ace, while Donovan Guglielmana had four digs and two kills.
Toby Miller put up 12 assists, three digs, and two kills in two sets. Cody Krohn contributed nine assists, a block, and an ace in the third frame.
Other notables include four digs from George Buljan, two kills from Jozef Lingenfelter, and a block and an ace from Anthony Alaniz.
Vanguard jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first set before the Bobcats responded with a 7-2 run pull within a point, 10-9. Alaniz and Woodhams led the run with two points apiece. However, Vanguard created separation again and the Lions hit the 20-point mark while leading 20-12 on their way to the 25-14 win. The Lions recorded a match-high .417 hitting percentage in the opening set.
Stokes opened the second set with a kill and an ace but the Bobcats 2-1 lead was their last of the frame. Vanguard scored its next five points via the kill and then spread out three aces to build the lead to five points at 12-7. Shortly after, the Lions used a 9-2 burst to run away with the set and go up 2-0 in the match behind another 25-14 win.
The third set had nine ties and six lead changes with the majority of them coming in the middle portion of the set. The score was tied at every number from 10-15, however Vanguard broke the 15-15 tie and it sparked a 5-1 Lions spurt to reach 20 points first. UC Merced battled back with a 6-2 run highlighted by a Max Niederberger kill to pull even 22-22. After back-to-back UC Merced errors, Vanguard's Grant Veldman delivered match point with his match-leading eleventh kill of the night to lead the Lions to their first MPSF win of the season.
Looking ahead, UC Merced will face Vanguard again on Saturday, March 14. First serve from the Freed Center for Leadership and Service is scheduled for 2:00pm in Costa Mesa, Calif.
