University of California, Merced – Morikawa, Bobcats Earn Road Sweep at Saint Katherine

SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Chris Morikawa recorded his second consecutive monster double-double to power the University of California, Merced men’s volleyball team to a road sweep over University of Saint Katherine, 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-19) on Wednesday afternoon at the USK Sports Complex.

The Bobcats (7-9, 5-4) sweep was the third in their last five matches and the fourth of the season overall.

Morikawa led the way with a three-set career-high 18 kills and tied the program’s three-set record with 13 digs. His kills output was one shy of tying the program record, while his digs total tied Matthew Pelfini’s sweep record from March 16, 2018. Morikawa recorded a .455 hitting percentage while notching his second straight double-double and the third of his career. 

Morikawa hit more milestones with his Wednesday afternoon efforts. He reached 223 total kills on the year, which beats his old career-best from the 2020 campaign and the mark is good for second on the program’s single-season kills chart. He also hit the century mark for digs on the year and becomes the second player in program history to join the 150 kill/100 dig club multiple seasons. Morikawa, who joins the company of Joseph Webb, also accomplished the feat as a freshman.

Ryan Steele was also stellar in the sweep and followed up his program-record 61 assists with a three-set career-high 39 assists, one-upping his previous best from February 3, 2018. Steele ran the Bobcats offense to a .321 success rate, the fifth match of the year achieving a .300 rate or better. Steele also had six digs, four kills and a service ace. With his four kills, Steele cracked the program’s top ten list and passed Emmanuel Egun with 277 career kills. Steele is now on the program’s top ten lists for all five major statistical categories (kills, assists, aces, digs, blocks). 

Ryan Kilgore was good for eight kills and a block in the straight set win, while Jozef Lingenfelter had five kills and two service aces. Lingenfelter has multiple service aces in three straight matches. 

Kainoa Ferguson finished with seven digs and tied his season-high with three service aces. Ferguson’s day behind the service line allowed him to pass Egun and tie Smith for second in program history with 51 career service aces.

Zach Brill tallied nine digs and an ace.

Other notables include four kills from Trevor Jurlina and two blocks each from Morikawa, Lincoln Smith and Colin Ryan. One of Smith’s two blocks was solo,…