MERCED, Calif. - The men's volleyball hit the road today to take on UC Merced in Merced, CA this Sunday afternoon.
The Red Hawks could not pull off the road victory but fell to the Bobcats in straight sets.
Simpson drew first blood on a
Flavio Mercado kill to begin the game and pulled out to an early 5-2 lead with kills by
Akira Davies and
Adonijah James Raffaelli.
However, UC Merced went on a 15-7 run to grow its largest lead of the first set to eight points.
Simpson reeled off three unanswered points with a kill by Mercado and a couple of Bobcat miscues.
But Merced put down a kill to close out the 25-17 first-set victory.
Merced grabbed the early 3-1 advantage before a 5-2 Red Hawks advantage gave them its first lead of the second set.
Kills by
Travis Kelly,
Nathan Richards,
Jean-Paul James, and Mercado helped Simpson take a commanding 20-16 lead late in the second set.
But the Bobcats did not go quietly as they reclaimed the 24-21 lead on six straight points.
With its backs against the wall, Simpson capitalized on three straight Bobcat hitting errors to tie the game at 24.
Simpson had a chance to take the second set as they held match point on three different occasions.
A kill by Richards made it a 28-27 Red Hawks advantage, but the Bobcats reeled off three straight kills to take the second set 30-28 victory.
The Bobcats carried the momentum into set three as they jumped out to the early 5-0 lead before an attacking error put Simpson on the board.
Merced proved too much in the third set as they won convincingly 25-13 to take the match in straight sets.
Nathan Richards and
Flavio Mercado combined for 17 kills in the game while
Jean-Paul James registered three total blocks.
With the loss, Simpson ends its first round of conference play with a 1-5 record. The Red Hawks have played tough but have run into some trouble as of late as they sit on a five-game skid.
Simpson looks to rebound as they host a nonconference match against Hope International on March 14th at 6 PM.
