University of California, Merced – Bobcats Sweep Saint Katherine on Saturday Afternoon

MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men’s volleyball team earned its second sweep in the last three matches and its first sweep at home this year after beating University of Saint Katherine in straight sets on Saturday afternoon, 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-22) inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.

Ryan Steele led the Bobcats (6-8, 4-3) with 32 assists, eight digs, five kills without an error, and a season-high four blocks. Saturday marked Steele’s fourth match of the year with 30+ assists and at least five kills. Steele’s eight digs make him the third player in program history to go over 500 career digs. 

Chris Morikawa finished with eleven kills to hit double figures for the eleventh time already this year. He also had eight digs, a service ace for the sixth straight match and solo block for the second straight match.

Ryan Kilgore was good for eight kills and a career-high seven digs. Trevor Jurlina pitched in seven kills on a .500 hitting percentage, his third highest career success rate with a minimum of ten attempts.

Lincoln Smith and Brennan Taylor each had three kills and three blocks. Smith’s three blocks marked a career-high. Taylor has multiple blocks in five of the last six matches. One of his three blocks on Saturday was a solo block.

Zach Brill tallied eight digs. Jozef Lingenfelter tied his career-high with two service aces while also contributing a couple kills and a block.

Lingenfelter was the Bobcats first server and a strong service run that included an ace put the Bobcats up 5-0 in the opening set. The Bobcats extended their lead to six points at 9-3. Up 15-9, a Jurlina kill sparked a set-ending 10-3 run to put the Bobcats up 1-0 in the match. Five different Bobcats had a kill in the 10-3 run.

Saint Katherine scored the first four points in the second set but head coach Ai Prachumsri‘s team was quick to recover and tied the frame 5-5. Later on, tied 13-13, Saint Katherine committed back-to-back errors and then a Steele kill was followed by a Morikawa ace to put the Bobcats up 17-13. The four-point lead was tied for the biggest of the set and the Bobcats would eventually win it 25-21.

The third set saw seven lead changes within the first 17 rallies. A Morikawa solo block on Saint Katherine’s Troy Jackson gave the Bobcats a 9-8 lead and the home team held the advantage for the next 17 rallies, until Saint Katherine fought back to pull even at 17-17. The third set was also tied 18-18 and…