KANSAS CITY, Mo. -
The men's volleyball run to the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation (NCVF) national title began as the fourth overall seed on Thursday, April 2, when they competed as the first seed in their four-team pool against Missouri S&T, Carroll, and Canisius. In the first and most competitive match of the day, the Panthers took down the Miners from Missouri S&T in two sets (25-15, 25-21). In the second match of pool play, the team swept Carroll University (25-17, 25-21). A 25-11, 25-19 take down of the Griffins from Canisius wrapped up an undefeated day in pool play,
On Friday, April 3, the team needed to finish first or second in a three-team pool to advance to the gold bracket on Saturday. Taking on Cal State Monterey Bay for the first time in school history, the Panthers faced their toughest challenge yet against a hard-swinging Otter team that pushed them to three sets. The Panthers prevailed (25-23, 21-25, 15-9) and pressed on to their next match against UW-Whitewater. In the second match on Friday, the Panthers quickly pounced on the Warhawks early in set one winning 25-16. In the second set, the team had to overcome a few more errors but still came out on top 25-22. Winning both matches allowed for the team to keep their fourth overall seed intact heading into Saturday's gold bracket.
Saturday, April 4, brought a morning start to the round of sixteen matchup against the Cadets from Army West Point. The Panthers came out on fire both defensively and offensively, easily transitioning from defense to in-system offense, winning with the largest margin of victory of the tournament (25-16, 25-14). During the match, the team hit an impressive .444 percentage. Jackson Palmitier led the way offensively with 12 kills while Gavin Vandergraaf contributed eight kills of his own. Tristan Whitman assisted on 27 kills. Shaquann Amenuvor and Palmitier had two blocks each. Four players chipped in with one ace each: James May, Palmitier, Vandergraaf, and Robert Lowes.
In the quarterfinals, the Panthers faced a determined Dons team from the University of San Francisco. As a large crowd gathered around the court, both teams battled and did not allow any easy points. When the dust settled, the Panther survived (25-22, 26-28, 15-12) and advanced to the semifinals. Palmitier and Vandergraaf led in kills again with 17 and 11 respectively, while Whitman dished out 39 assists. Logan Sowers and Whitman accounted for two blocks each. USF's strong serve receive allowed zero aces from Panther servers.
Moving onto the semifinals, Minnesota State Mankato stood in the way of the Davenport hopes of playing in the T-Mobile Center in the finals. The Panthers quickly overpowered the Mavericks with their serving, blocking, and offense in the first set on the way to a 25-11 victory. Mankato put up a tougher fight in the second set, but still fell 25-20. Palmiter (10) and Vandergraaf (8) once again powered the Panthers offense behind 26 assists from Whitman. Vandergraaf led the way with two aces while Whitman, Lowes, and Peyton Keely each added one ace of their own. Vandergraaf added three blocks to his stat line, and Shaquann Amenuvor added two.
Making it to the National Championship Match meant a change of location as action moved down the street to the T-Mobile Center, the same venue the NCAA Women's National Championship was played this fall. Carnegie Mellon University awaited Davenport in a finals match that started well after the scheduled 6:00 PM start. The Panthers and the Tartans both struggled with nerves and the physical toll of playing in their ninth matches of the three days as several serving and hitting errors from both teams plagued the beginning of the match. After settling in, the Panthers took the first hard-fought set 25-22. The teams traded points in the second set until DU got stuck in a rotation that started with them in the lead at 13-11 and ended in a 16-13 deficit. The Tartans pushed the lead to 19-14 before the Panthers took their last time out. Although the team battled back and made the score close, they still ended up dropping set two 25-23. In the third set after siding out on a quick kill by Sowers, the Panthers jumped out to a 5-0 lead behind a great serving run by Lowes. With an early cushion, the team was able to dominate on the way to a 15-8 final set victory and national championship!
Palmitier and May paced the offense with seven kills each. Whitman set the table with 26 assists. Palmitier led the team with two aces, and May and Whitman each added one ace. Sowers led the team with two blocks. The team was able to put together crucial scoring runs behind the consistent serving of Lowes and Keely, who himself did not miss a serve in the finals.
As part of the tournament, opposing teams vote for players they compete against for the All-Tournament Team and Tournament MVP. Whitman and Palmitier were both chosen to the All-Tournament First Team, and May was selected as the Tournament MVP. Congratulations to these individuals and their teammates for putting them into a position to be recognized!
Tournament Record: 9-0
Season Record: 43-4
Overall Stats for the Tournament
Tristan Whitman: 245 assists, 12.2 assists/set, 3 aces, 11 blocks
Jackson Palmitier: 88 Kills, .412 hitting %, 4.19 kills/set, 6 aces, 6 blocks
Gavin Vandergraaf: 63 Kills, .274 hitting %, 3.00 kills/set, 6 aces, 8 blocks
James May: 62 Kills, .219 hitting %, 2.95 kills/set, 4 aces, 3 blocks
Logan Sowers: 34 Kills, .385 hitting %, 1.62 kills/set, 1 ace, 13 blocks
Shaquann Amenuvor: 30 Kills, .343 hitting %, 1.5 kills/set, 10 blocks
Peyton Keely: 3 aces, 96.3 serve %
Robert Lowes: 2 aces, 94.4 serve %
Cameron Meier: 4 Kills, .375 hitting %, 1.33 kills/set, 1 ace, 100 serve %
Natanael Mena: 4 Kills, .333 hitting %, 1.0 kills/set, 4 blocks
Phoenix Bol: 2 Kills, .250 hitting %, .67 kills/set, 1 block
