Southern Exposure’s Defense Big Factor in Victory Over Team Freedom
Southern Exposure’s 39 attack points enough to overcome Team Freedom’s 53 attack points thanks to good defensive.
Middle blocker #12 Matt Seifert delivered a monster kill that led to a Team Freedom mini run to take an early lead. Team Freedom’s middle blocker #6 Doug Dzema scored three consecutive points on a kill off the block and two blocks in a row for a 6-2 lead. Southern Exposure started slow and committed three service errors and one hitting error that helped Southern Exposure increase their lead to eight points 16-8 at the media timeout. Team Freedom scored their points on kills by Seifert, #4 Matt Elias, #18 Jonathon Lutz and #8 Besmir Arsiani. Southern Exposure scored points from 6 of their 8 points from Team Freedom’s service and hitting errors and two kills from #2 Eddie Moushikhian and #11 Kevin Rocklein. Southern Exposure rallied back with three mini runs to cut the deficit to two at 22-20. Their points came from kills by Moushikhian, #13 Chad Mercado, middle blocker #12 Uchenna Ofoha and blocks by #8 middle blocker Tim Lourich and #15 setter Derrick Sullivan. Southern Exposure eventually tied the set at 23-23. After a Team Freedom timeout, Southern Exposure scored the last two points from back-to-back service aces by Mercado.
Both teams sided out well for most of set number two. Team Freedom took an early 2-point lead at 8-6. But Southern Exposure rallied back and took a 3-point lead at 11-8. Team Freedom scored their points on kills by #19 Jeffery Nelson, Lutz and Arsiani and Southern Exposure from kills by Rocklein and Moushikhian. Team Freedom rallied back at to tie the set at 16-16 on service ace by Dzema, kill by Nelson and kill and block by Seifert. After a media timeout a kill by Moushikhian gave Team Freedom a 1-point lead to 17-16 which they never relinquished. Team Freedom increased their lead and closed out the set with kills by Moushikhian, Lutz and Nelson. Seifert score the last point on a block for a 25-18 win.
Southern Exposure dominated set number three that started with a 5-0 run from two Team Freedom hitting errors and kills by Mercado and #8 middle blocker Tim Lourich and block by Lourich. At 9-4 Southern Exposure increased their lead to 7 points at the media timeout with a combination of Team Freedom hitting errors and kills by Seifert, Dzema, Arsiani and Mercado for a 16-9 lead. The only offense Teams Freedom mustered was from Lutz who had 5 consecutive kills. For the rest of the set the only other scores for Team Freedom came on kills by #2 Jake Rosner, Dzema and Nelson. Southern Exposure closed out the set with two consecutive service aces by Rocklein, one kill and one service ace by Ofoha. The set ended on a service error by Team Freedom at 25-15.
Southern Exposure continued their scoring run in set number four with a 4-0 run on a line kill by Moushikhian back-to-back blocks by Lourich and kill by Lourich. But Team Freedom turned quickly rebounded and tied the score at 4-4 on two Southern Exposure hitting errors and Seifert kill and block. Southern Exposure countered back and took a one point lead until Team Freedom tied the set at 10-10. Team Freedom took the lead thanks to two consecutive Southern Exposure hitting errors, Lutz block, Nelson deep angle kill and kill off the block for a 16-12 score at the media timeout. Team Freedom increased their lead to 6 points at 23-17 and won the set on a Seifert kill 25-19.
Team Freedom captured the early lead in set number five 3-1 from a Southern Exposure hitting error and Seifert block. Team Freedom kept their lead on kills by Dzema and Rosner until 9-9. A Team Freedom hitting error during transition gave Southern the lead at 10-9. A lead they never relinquished. After Team Freedom called a timeout at 11-9, Southern Exposure scored two consecutive points and took a 13-10 lead on a kill by #1 Tyler-Neil Hubbard and block by Lourich. Southern Exposure won the set and match on a Team Freedom hitting error 15-12.
Team Freedom’s Jonathon Lutz led all players with 20 kills and his teammates Joe Norman 9 kills and Doug Dzema 7 kills. Southern Exposure’s Uchenna Ofoha led his team with 10 kills followed by Kevin Rocklin with 8 kills and Eddie Moushikhian and Chad Mercado with 6 kills.
Southern Exposure Defeat the Stingers in a 5 Set Marathon
Without a doubt this match between the Stingers was the most competitive and longest of the 2021 NVA season. It also established two NVA records that may took a long time to break or never surpass. The match unofficially lasted 2 hours, 54 minutes and 47 seconds and all five sets went into overtime.
Another interesting aspect of this marathon battle was that it matched up last year’s NVA Champions the Stingers against Southern Exposure, a team who did not win one match last year.
Stingers and Southern Exposure entertained the volleyball fans with some spectacular and crazy plays and rallies; a line-up rarely seen in volleyball when the Stingers played set number four with Jake Langlois in the middle blocker position and stayed on the back row in the fourth set; and a very rare ineligible substitution that resulted in a red card penalty for a delay of game at a crucial point with the score tied 27-27, which also occurred in the fourth set.
Stingers’ Jake Langlois #10 scored the first point on a kill to start the match, and Southern Exposure’s Tyler Neil-Hubbard countered with a kill to tie the set. For the first half of the set both teams sided-out well and exchanged one and two point leads. Stingers scored on kills by #9 Jorge Mencia, #15 Novel Romero and Langlois. Southern Exposure scored their points on a block by #16 MB Langston Payne, a service ace by #10 Kyle Dagostino and kills by Payne, Dagostino, #19 MB Evan McDonough. At 14-12 Southern Exposure scored three points in a row on one kill by #6 Tim Lourich a Hubbard kill after an overpass and a service ace by Dagostino for a 17-12 lead. Southern Exposure increased their lead to 7 points after a Stingers’ hitting error and kill by Hubbard to 20-13. Stingers scored the next three points to cut the lead to 20-16 on a block by #14 MB Lazaro Fernandez, Romero service ace and Langlois kill after a Southern Exposure overpass. While Southern Exposure hitters struggled to find the court, Langlois’ three kills tied the set at 24-24. Southern Exposure regained the lead at 25-24 and kept the 1-point lead until 28-28. After a Stunner’s serve Southern Exposures’ overpass led to a Metcalf kill on one. Stingers won the set on a block by Metcalf 30-28.
Southern Exposure committed early hitting errors that gave the Stingers an early lead. The Stingers scored on kills from #11 setter Hamilton Day’s dump, Metcalf, Mencia and Langlois; and double block by Metcalf and Mencia for a 7-2 lead. At 8-3 Stingers donated two points to Southern Exposure on a service error and hitting error. After a Dagostino kill Southern Exposure cut the lead to 8-6. Stingers kept a two and three point lead on kills by Romero, Langlois and Fernandez. At 14-12 two Stingers’ hitting errors and kill by Hubbard tied the score 15-15. Both teams exchanged one point leads throughout the rest of the set. Southern Exposure scored on a block by McDonough, Payne service ace and kill and kills by Dagostino and #8 Storm Tufuga Fa’gata. Stingers scored on kills by # 2 Carson Henninger, Langlois, Fernandez and Romero. At 25-25 Stingers won the set from a service ace by Dagostino and McDonough kill after a Southern Exposure overpass 27-25.
Set number three was the most competitive of the match, in which neither led by more than 2 points. Stingers took the first lead on one of the few Southern Exposure errors 1-0. While the Stingers scored points on kills by Langlois, Metcalf, Mencia and Romero, Southern Exposure scored on points from kills by Dagostino, Hubbard, McDonough and Payne and a block by McDonough and Lourich. At 12-12 Southern Exposure took the lead on a kill by McDonough to 13-12. Both teams continued to exchange leads, in which the Stingers scored on kills by Mencia, Langlois and Fernandez. Southern Exposure scored on a McDonough service ace, kills by Lourich and Hubbard. After Southern Exposure took a 22-22 lead on a Hubbard block, Stingers scored two consecutive points on a Fernandez block and Langlois kill and retook the lead 23-22. At 24-24 Southern Exposure retook the lead after a Hubbard kill to 25-24. Both teams exchanged points to a 28-28 tie. After a Stingers’ hitting error broke the tie to 29-28, Southern Exposure won the set on a Hubbard kill after a Stingers’ overpass 30-28.
Set number four turned into another long drawn out battle. Southern Exposure scored the first point from #15 setter Derrick Sullivan on a dump. But after Langlois tied the set at 2-2 the Stingers scored three straight points two kills by Storm and one by Mencia to 5-2. Stingers kept that lead until Southern Exposure four points in a row from two kills by Lourich, one kill by Dagostino and block by McDonough to 8-6. Southern Exposure increased their lead to 18-13 on a block by Payne and kills by Hubbard, Lourich and McDonough. Stingers scored on kills by Storm, Romero, Langlois and Mencia.
At 21-17 the Stingers fought back to tie and take the lead and scored 5 consecutive points on 2 kills by Langlois, one kill and block by Menica and one kill by Storm to 22-21. While both teams battled into overtime, Stingers kept their 1-point lead until 27-27, when the chair umpire penalized Southern Exposure for a delay of game caused by an ineligible substitution. Because Southern Exposure received a yellow card earlier in the match, this delay of game penalty was a second infraction, which resulted in a red card and change of ball ownership that gave the Stingers’ a point to 28-27. On the next point the Stingers won the set on a Southern Exposure error 30-28.
In set number five Southern Exposure took the early lead 2-0 on Lourich and Payne kills. A Southern Exposure service error gave Stingers their first point. A service ace by the Stingers’ Romero tied the score 2-2. Southern Exposure increased their lead by 2 points after a Hubbard kill and service ace to 4-2. After a Fernandez block tied the score at 4-4 a Mencia kill gave the Stingers’ their first lead of the set. Southern Exposure retook the lead after back-to-back points on a Payne service ace and McDonough block to 7-5. At 9-7 a Lourich service ace increased the Southern Exposure lead to 10-7. But the Stingers retook the lead after 3 hitting errors and 2 Romero kills to 14-13. Southern Exposure tied the score on a Hubbard kill to 14-14. Stingers countered with a Romero kill to 15-14. Then two kills by Hubbard, one on a “bic” gave Southern Exposure a 16-15 lead. On the next point Southern Exposure committed a service error and tied the score at 16-16. Southern Exposure won the set and match on consecutive kills by Lourich and the last by McDonough 18-16.
Southern Exposures’ Tyler Hubbard-Neil led all players with 21 kills. His teammates Evan McDonough had 13 kills and Lourich and Payne each had 12 kills.
Stingers were led by Langlois with 20 kills, followed by Mencia 18 kills and Romero 15 kills. Southern Exposure also scored on 9 service aces and 13 blocks. And Stingers on 1 service ace and 10 blocks. Southern Exposure scored 69 points and Stingers 68 points for a total of 137 points.
Southern Exposure Defeats Blaze in the Eighth 5 Set Match of the NVA’s Third Event
Blaze took an early 7-0 lead on kill and service ace by #8 Pablo Guzman, three kills in a row by #12 Travis O’Gorman, Southern Exposure hitting error and kill by #1 Steven Morales. Southern Exposure finally scored on a kill by #12 MB Uchenna Ofoha to 7-1. Blaze increased their lead to 11-3 after they scored three consecutive points on a kill by #3 Greg Faulkner, ace by Morales and kill by Guzman. Both teams sided-out well but also surrendered points to each other from service and hitting errors. The biggest Blaze lead was 9 points after Guzman scored on a joust to 15-6. While Southern Exposure scored clean points on kills by Ofoha, #13 Chad Mercado and #8 Tim Lourich, the Blaze scored on kills by O’Gorman, Guzman and Morales to 24-13. Southern Exposure scored the next point on a Blaze service error. And the Blaze won set point on a Southern Exposure service error 25-14.
Southern Exposure had a better start in the second set and scored the first four points from an Ofoha kill, Blaze hitting error and kills by #1 Tyler Neil-Hubbard and #10 Kyle Dagostino. Blaze score the next five points from a Southern Exposure hitting error, Guzman service ace, kill by O’Gorman, block by #5 Pedro Nieves and another Southern Exposure hitting error for a 5-4 lead. After Mercado tied the score at 7-7, Blaze relinquished their lead to Southern Exposure on hitting error to 8-7. Both teams sided-out well to keep the score close. Southern Exposure on kills by #2 Eddie Moushikhian and Hubbard and Ofoha and block by Ofoha. Blaze score on kills by O’Gorman and #10 Rafael Cruz. Southern Exposure increased their lead at 15-14 after a Mercado block and Moushikhian kill to 17-14. Two Blaze hitting errors increased the lead to 19-15. Blaze rallied back on kills by Morales and Faulkner and cut the lead to 22-21. After Hubbard and Mercado kills gave Southern Exposure at 2-point lead at 24-22, O’Gorman scored back-to-back kills and tied the score 24-24. Southern Exposure scored the next point from a kill by #19 MB Evan McDonough and then won the set from a Blaze hitting error 26-24.
In set number three Southern Exposure scored the first point on a kill by Mercado. Blaze tied the score at 2-2 on a Nieves kill and took the lead on an O’Gorman kill to 3-2. After Southern Exposure scored on a Blaze hitting error, the Blaze scored the next four points kills by #27 Charles Belvin, O’Gorman and Faulkner for a 7-3. Southern Exposure rallied to cut the lead to 12-10 after kills by Hubbard and Mercado and a block by Mercado. But Blaze never relinquished the lead. The last clean point the Blaze scored was on a kill by Nieves at 21-18. Blaze scored the next three points on a kill by Belvin, Southern Exposure hitting error and O’Gorman kill to 24-18. Southern Exposure scored the next point on a Blaze hitting error. Then the Blaze won the set on a Southern Exposure hitting error 25-19.
Southern Exposure scored the first point again and took the early lead in the fourth set on a Hubbard kill and Mercado block to 2-0. Blaze rallied back to tie the score after a Southern Exposure hitting error and a Faulkner block. Blaze scored the next two points from another Faulkner block and a Belvin service ace to 5-3. Southern Exposure tied and took the lead after kills by Lourich, Mercado and Moushikhian to 7-6. Blaze retook the lead to 11-8 after two Southern Exposure hitting errors and a Guzman kill. Southern Exposure cut the lead to one point after kills by Moushikhian and Mercado to 12-11. Both teams exchanged leads until Southern Exposure took a lead they never relinquished for the rest of the set after a Hubbard kill and Dagostino ace at 21-19. But the Blaze fought back and tied the set at 23-23 after a Southern Exposure hitting error and O’Gorman kill. A Blaze hitting error gave Southern Exposure a 24-23 lead. Belvin followed up with a kill to 24-24. Then Southern Exposure won the set on two consecutive kills, one by Mercado and the last by Dagostino after a Southern Exposure overpass 26-24.
In set number five Southern Exposure scored the first point on a Hubbard kill and Blaze on a kill by #14 Jonathan Rodriguez. Southern Exposure scored back-to-back kills from Ofoha for a 5-3 lead. After a service error Southern Exposure scored the next three points from a Moushikhian kill and back-to-back service aces to 8-4. Blaze rallied back to cut the lead to 11-9 after a block by Rodriguez. Mercado scored the next Southern Exposure point to 12-9. Blaze scored from Southern Exposure’s service error to 12-10. Hubbard scored to make 13-10. After Belvin scored a kill to 13-11, Southern Exposure won the set and match on a Moushikhian kill followed by a Blaze hitting error 15-11.
Chad Mercado led all players with 17 kills. His teammates Eddie Moushikhian added 11 kills, Tyler Neil-Hubbard 10 kills and Uchenna Ofoha 9 kills. Travis O’Gorman led the Blaze with 15 kills followed by Pablo Guzman 8 kills and Greg Faulkner and Charles Belvin 7 kills each. Southern Exposure also scored on 7 service aces and 7 blocks. And Blaze on 6 service aces and 5 blocks.