After achieving the school's first NCAA Tournament win in any sport on Wednesday, the Southern Virginia men's volleyball team bowed out to Benedictine (Ill.) on Thursday evening, falling 3-2 in the national semifinals.
The Knights (16-4) came out of the gates slow, falling behind 8-3 early in the first set. The Eagles (15-3) staved off the Knights by scoring nine of the last 13 points to take the frame by a score of 25-14.
AVCA First Team All-American Nahuel Recabarren took his game up a notch in the second set, recording seven of his 26 kills in the frame to help the Knights take set two, 25-20. Southern Virginia finished the set with an impressive .400 hitting percentage.
The momentum shifted back to the Eagles in the third as they capitalized on a 6-1 run in the middle of the set to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Southern Virginia built a 13-7 lead in the fourth set and never looked back, winning the frame 25-19 to send the match to a decisive fifth set. The Knights stepped up their defensive presence in the frame, holding the Eagles to a -.077 hitting percentage.
A kill by Mark Stapley and two attacking errors by Benedictine gave the Knights a 3-0 lead to begin the fifth, but the Eagles then scored ten of the next 12 points for a 10-5 advantage. Southern Virginia came back to tie the game at 13 thanks to five kills from Recabarren, but the Eagles took the next two points to advance to the national championship game against Carthage on Saturday.
The match is only the second of the 2021 NCAA DIII Tournament to last longer than three sets.
Recabarren's 26 kills were a game-high and the second-highest total by any player in the tournament thus far, trailing only the 29 kills by Messiah's Mason Nissley in the first round. Recabarren added a pair of service aces and finished with a .320 hitting percentage.
Senior Kaipo Tagaloa recorded 44 assists and three blocks, while libero Jothan Castillo had a match-high 17 digs. Sophomore Samuel Candland also had a solid game, finishing with 12 kills, nine digs, and three block assists.
The match concludes a historic season for the Knights. Southern Virginia finished with an overall record of 16-4, repeated as Continental Volleyball Conference champions, and reached the NCAA Tournament semifinals, the longest a Southern Virginia team has lasted in the school's Division III era.
STORY COURTESY OF SOUTHERN VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION