Semifinals Recap of the 2022 NAIA Men's Volleyball Championship

Semifinals Recap of the 2022 NAIA Men's Volleyball Championship

DES MOINES, Iowa - [Bracket | Schedule | Live Stream] Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) and Grand View (Iowa) won their respective semifinal matches and will face each other again in the finals for the second consecutive year. 

 


Benedicitne Mesa (Ariz.) def. Park (Mo.), 3-0 BOX SCORE 

 

The Redhawks opened the match with an early lead while Park remained inside five points until BenU went on a 6-2 run to close out the set 25-18. 

Park opened set two with an early lead until Benedictine Mesa tied the score at 10 points. The teams battled through five tie scores before the Redhawks went on a 7-1 run for a three-point lead. The Pirates, however, answered with a five-point run to regain a one-point lead. The teams continued to battle with eight more ties following as they pushed past 25 points until Benedictine Mesa capitalized on an attacking error from Park at set point and with a kill from Daxton Tolman for the 32-30 set two win. 

The battle continued in the third set with 17 ties in the set. Tied at 23 all an attacking error from the Pirates and a double block by Daxton Tolman and Matthew Motes of Benedictine sealed the match for the Redhawks. 

  • Benedictine held the Pirates to an 0.097 attack percentage in the first set. 
  • Landon Fuller of Benedictine Mesa led all scorers with 13 kills. Three players followed with 10 kills each: Charles Pollnow and Caleb Stearman of Benedictine Mesa and Joao Friedrich of Park. 
  • Damaryan Benton of Benedictine Mesa led the defensive effort with 12 digs in the match.

 


Grand View (Iowa) def. Campbellsville (Ky.), 3-1 Box Score

The teams battled for the lead off the bat until Campbellsville went on a six-point run to capture the first sizeable lead in the set. Grand View worked their way back to tie the score at 16. The Vikings put together a 5-1 run that would give them just enough space to close out the set 25-22. 

The teams went back and forth in set two again. Tied at 24 all Grand View earned the final two points with a kill by Oscar Manana and a service aces from Francisco Arredondo. 

Grand View opened the third set with the lead as Campbellsville just trailed the Vikings until they tied the score at 18 all and battled back and forth until the Tigers claimed set three with a kill by Eric Heller and then Niklas Held. 

The teams traded points at the first of the fourth set but a 6-2 run put the Vikings four points ahead. Campbellsville made another run as the teams would battle past 25 but with an attack error by the Tigers and a kill off the hand of Leonardo Annichini of Grand View the Vikings would advance to the finals for the second year in a row. 

  • Bayron Valdez of GVU led all scorers with 18 kills. Two others followed with 15 kills each: Jason Camacho of Campbellsville and Daniel Galili of Grand View. 
  • Erick Villar-Cordero of GVU and Jay Montalvo of Campbellsville led the defensive effort with 15 digs apiece. 
  • Francisco Arredondo of GVU directed the Vikings offense with 44 assists for 11 assists per set. 

Championship Information

5th ANNUAL
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
April 30 - May 4, 2024
Alliant Energy PowerHouse
Cedar Rapids, Iowa