Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

OUAZ Athletics

MVB_02/27/2025
MVB_02/27/2025
2
OUAZ OUAZ 1-3
3
Winner Westcliff (CA) WESTCLIF 8-3
OUAZ OUAZ
1-3
2
Final
3
Westcliff (CA) WESTCLIF
8-3
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
OUAZ OUAZ 25 24 25 17 12 (2)
Westcliff (CA) WESTCLIF 23 26 20 25 15 (3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball | | Jas Singh

OUAZ Loses Five Set Heartbreaker to Westcliff

Huntington Beach, Calif- OUAZ loses a close 5 set matchup to #11 Westcliff in the opening matchup of their 3 game road trip. The final score was (25-23) (24-26) (25-20) (17-25) (12-15) putting them at 1-3 on the season.

Horatio Maumasi ran the show tonight in arguably one of the best performances for a middle in program history and in all of college volleyball. Mausmasi hit a .613 clip with 20 kills on 31 attempts. The sophomore also added 2 huge solo blocks tonight and put up an absolute clinic killing the ball in all areas of the court. Freshman Owen Draeger showed why he was one of the most touted offseason signings putting the ball away 10 times on a .474 hitting percentage. The 6 foot 9 middle hitter had 5 block assists using his long frame to create chaos for Westcliff hitters. Anthem native, Caeden Salmen added 13 kills putting the ball away in creative ways and had 7 digs to go along with his stellar performance. High flyer Corey Johnson had a solid day defensively notching 13 digs on some tough Westcliff swings. Liberty HS grad Bodhi Bettes stepped up greatly with 12 digs and had a nice night handling Westcliff serves.

In the second matchup of the series, the Spirit outscored Westcliff and overtook them in most statistical categories which included kills, points, blocks, and assists. Spirit middles were a huge emphasis in this week's road trip for Coach Afusia who is looking to get more volume for the middles to establish an inside out offense. The Spirit held Westcliff's top scorer Gabriel Pizza to a .087 hitting percentage and their other top outside Rodolfo Biegelmeyer to .175 hitting clip. After an early 14-18 deficit in set 1, the Spirit came back following two Caeden Salmen kills and a Horatio Maumasi bounce which ultimately led to a close set victory. Set 2 unfortunately went the Warriors way after they went on a 4-1 run following a timeout where the Spirit had led 23-22. Set 3, was all OUAZ following a big set from Horatio Maumasi and a solid set blocking several opposing hitters. Set 4 went to Westcliff as they took an early 10-4 lead and carried that momentum leading by as much as 10. In Set 5, both teams were neck and neck until they switched sides at 7-8 where the Warriors gained momentum following two back to back Spirit errors. Xavier Connelly brought some of that momentum back for the Spirit after subbing in for Owen Draeger and then immediately notching a highlight level stuff block. The Spirit who went down 9 to 14 put together a nice final run after a Caeden Salmen block and two straight kills, but came up short as Westcliff scored the final point at 12-14.

The Spirit return to action tomorrow Friday, February 28th in Aliso Viejo against Soka University, whom they had a solid victory against a few weeks back.
Print Friendly Version