From my perspective, this has been the best NCAA Tournament we’ve had in years. The first few rounds treated us to countless electric moments. We had five cincoset matches (shoutout to Trine for pushing Loras to the brink), and several host sites getting upset by lower seeds in the Elite Eight round, all leading to what promises to be a great final four.
Match 1: Stevens vs Cal Lutheran
The reigning national champions are in the strongest position of all the remaining teams to make the finals (and win it all, again). The Ducks likely have the deepest roster of all D3VB currently, and Coach Buehring has taken advantage of it throughout the year. Feulner, Bickford, and Moran are probably the most rested starters in the country, which is a great thing when you’re playing in the NCAA Tournament.
When it comes to playstyle, the Ducks are brutally efficient, not very error prone, and the best blocking team in the final four. You’re going to win a lot of games hitting over .300 while only making a few errors a set, you’ll win A LOT more games doing those things while also averaging 2.6 blocks a set. This goes without mentioning the potential impact Koby Sherman will have in this final four, as I currently think he’s the biggest matchup problem every remaining team has.
Cal Lutheran will definitely be the underdog in this game, but they’ve been tested throughout the year so I won’t count them out by any means. Jordan Cooper, Borys Horiuk, and Michael Stahl are imposing threats Stevens will have to game plan for. If the past is precedent, Cal Lutheran is going to need a lot of service pressure from the line to overcome the Stevens offense. A tall order, but it’s doable. They’re still facing an uphill climb, as it stands the Kingsman have two rotations where their offense sputters, and that’s a huge problem when you’re playing against Stevens.
Match 2: Vassar vs NYU
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you can win the UVC, you can win the national championship. I had NYU as a top ten team at the beginning of the season, so I’m happy to see them reach this stage if only for bragging rights. I think a lot of people were very quick to write them off following their losses to Baruch and Elmira earlier this season, and that was definitely foolish for too many reasons to waste time writing about.
The Violets have had this potential for a while, and they’re fulfilling it during the most important time of the year. Their size at the pins made them a kryptonite matchup for the once unbeatable Southern Virginia, and their offense is clicking under the guidance of Devyn Nguyen (the best freshman setter in the country currently).
Where the Violets play big, the Brewers play small. Vassar has found the most success this year with Lounsberry and Fan at Outside, as the majority of their offense comes from Ramsey and Jacob Kim at Opposite. Look no further than their upset of Wentworth to see their effectiveness, where Kim and Ramsey went a combined 36-8-71 (.394) to defeat the Leopards. NYU was able to neutralize these two in the UVC Championship match; they’ll need to do so again if they wish to advance to the Championship.
Prediction
Stevens vs Cal Lutheran: Stevens 3-1
Vassar vs NYU: NYU 3-2