ST. LOUIS – The Catawba College men's volleyball team competes in the Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (IVA) Tournament hosted by Maryville University of St. Louis this weekend in its inaugural postseason run.
Road to the Gateway City
- The Catawba Indians got through their initial slate with a 13-11 record, guaranteeing a winning campaign
- Catawba played against IVA foes three times, going 1-1 vs. Tusculum and falling to LMU to close the regular season
- The blue and white boast the second-best RPI in the tournament field at No. 31, trailing Lincoln Memorial (No. 11) with slight leads over Maryville (No. 33) and Tusculum (No. 35)
- A trip to the Gateway City marks Catawba's longest trip for a volleyball match as the distance between Catawba and host Maryville is approximately 588 miles as the crow flies and 741 miles driving
Luke Skyblocker
- Luke O'Neill hammered the Tusculum Pioneers with 10 blocks last Friday before adding four more against #16 Lincoln Memorial on Saturday
- The Silver Spring, Md. product's double-digit-stop performance was the best five-set total among IVA players this season
- O'Neill ranks 45th nationwide with 0.87 blocks per set while totaling 52 denials, the squad's second-best mark
Phillips Phrom Outside
- Trevor Phillips has anchored the Catawba Indians on offense all season long, firing 353 kills on a .276 hitting percentage to go with 32 service aces
- In national standings, Phillips slots 10th with both 4.15 kills and 4.71 points per set
- In both kills and points per set, the Davidson, N.C. native is second in the IVA behind only Tusculum's Deklan Wingo
Scouting the Hawks
- Coming into the tourney as the fifth seed, Rockhurst went 18-10 in the regular season with the 39th-best KPI ranking; Catawba is positioned 36th
- The Hawks won 10 of their last 11 games, the lone defeat in that stretch at Missouri S&T being avenged on home court in Rockhurst's last match
- Lucas Tran and Nate Meyer have keyed the offensive attack with 270 and 259 kills, respectively – top-10 totals in the IVA
- Aron DeRoy, who also boasts the league's fifth-best hitting percentage of .410, leads the way at the net with 58 blocks
The Bracket (all times Eastern)
Friday, Apr. 18
Match 1: (8) Thomas More vs. (9) Roosevelt, 11 a.m.
Match 2: (4) Catawba vs. (5) Rockhurst, 1:30 p.m.
Match 3: (1) Lincoln Memorial vs. Winner Match 1, 4 p.m.
Match 4: (2) Maryville vs. (7) Barry, 6:30 p.m.
Match 5: (3) Tusculum vs. (6) Missouri S&T, 9 p.m.
Saturday, Apr. 19
Match 6: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 2, 11 a.m.
Match 7: Winner Match 4 vs. Winner Match 5, 2 p.m.
Match 8 (Championship): Winner Match 6 vs. Winner Match 7, 6 p.m.
Follow Along
All matches at the IVA Tournament will be broadcast on the GLVC Sports Network with live stats on maryvillesaints.com.
