DES MOINES, Iowa -[SCHEDULE | BRACKET] The 2023 NAIA Men's Volleyball Championship opened with all of the top seeds in each pool winning their matches on day one. 

Tuesday the two seed and three seeds of each pool will face off against each other. 

The Master’s (Calif.) def. Indiana Tech, 3-2

The Master’s (Calif.) captured the first two sets and Indiana Tech tied things up with wins in sets three and four. The Mustangs captured an early lead in the fifth set and held that lead for the remainder of the set to close out the 3-2 win.

Season Records: The Master’s (Calif.) 18-4 | Indiana Tech 19-8

Game Highlights

• The Master’s held Indiana Tech under 0.500 attack percentage in all five sets while the Mustangs recorded set attack percentages at or over 0.700 in sets one and five.
• Nolan Flexen of The Master’s led all scorers with 35 kills in the match for a new championship record. The previous record was set by Joao Friedrick of Park (Mo.) in 2022 with 30 kills in a match.
• Matthew Hamm of The Master’s directed the Mustangs offense and garnered 66 assists to set a new championship record. The previous record was set by Henrique Gehrke of Lourdes (Ohio) in 2019 with 58 kills in a match.
• Indiana Tech was strong at the net totaling 17 blocks in the match compared to The Master’s seven.

Vanguard (Calif.) def. Jamestown (N.D.), 3-0

Jamestown started with a 5-0 run in the opening set but Vanguard settled into a rhythm and tied the score at 16 all. After trading scores, the Lions posted a 7-4 run to close out the set. Set two saw the teams battle for the lead at the start until 9-9 when Vanguard started to pull away and maintained a three or four-point lead before sealing the set two win with a kill off the hand of Cody Watts. Vanguard to the lead from the start of the third set and maintained that lead to win the set and the match.

Season Records: Vanguard (Calif.) 17-5 | Jamestown (N.D.) 21-4

Game Highlights

• Oguzhan Oguz of Jamestown (N.D.) led all scorers with 14 kills in the match. Oguz was followed by Kyle Anema of Vanguard (Calif.) with 12 kills of his own.
• The Lions recorded no attacking errors in set three with 15 team kills on 28 attempts for the teams highest attack percentage in a set at 0.536.
• The teams matched each other with 24 total digs in the match.
• Vanguard posted a 0.338 attack percentage on the match compared to 0.267 attack percentage of UJ.

Park (Mo.) def. Webber (Fla.), 3-0

Park (Mo.) opened the match with the lead and maintained a lead through the entirety of the match. Webber (Fla.) closed the gap at 8-8 in the second set but was unable to overtake the Pirates.

Season Records: Park (Mo.) 26-1 | Webber (Fla.) 12-6

Game Highlights

• Joao Friedrich of Park led all scorers with 15 kills in the match. Infante’s teammate, Samuel Essilfie was the only other attacker to reach double-digit kills in the contest at 10.
• Leonardo Leao of Park led the defensive effort with double-digit digs at 16 digs in the match.
• Park had a higher efficiency in the match with an attack percentage of 0.337 while the Pirates held the Warriors to 0.045

Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) def. Saint Xavier (Ill.), 3-0

Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) took an early lead that they did not relinquish to win the initial set. The teams battled for the lead in set two with 14 total ties in the set until 18 all when BenU went on a 7-3 scoring run sparked off a kill by John Dawson. The third set, more highly contested than the second, saw 19 scoring ties before a four-point run secured the match win for Benedictine Mesa.  

Season Records: Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) 25-3 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) 22-5

Game Highlights

• Vejas Cuplinskas of Saint Xavier (Ill.) led all scorers with 14 kills and his teammate Jan Lopuch followed with 11 kills of his own.
• Two BenU players also landed double-digit kills in Landon Fuller (11) and Dapre Rogers (10).
• Benedictine led the defensive effort with 21 digs and 12 block assists. SXU posted 13 digs and six block assists.