ATHERTON, Calif. – Men's volleyball concluded the 2025 regular season in a 3-0 loss at Menlo on Saturday afternoon.
Unlike the previous night, VU's return to Haynes Prim Pavillon did not come with a set victory as they dropped set scores of 28-26, 25-21 and 25-16. The Blue and Gold cap the regular season with a record of 8-17 and 2-10 in their debut run through the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Menlo earned a senior day win to rise to 11-12 and 5-5 in league play.
Logan Freemon collected a match-high 12 kills hitting .231 and picking up seven digs. The freshman finished the campaign as the team's leader in kills (228) and connected for his 13th double-digit kill performance of the season.
Logan Finley had nine kills and an ace while Micah Sybesma hit .357 on his way to seven kills. The middle blocker will enter the MPSF Tournament with a top-three hitting percentage in the league (.444). Floor captain Phinehas Wiley tallied six kills, four blocks and a game-high eight digs. Brock Henderson delivered 26 assists and an ace.
What Happened?: Set one presented the closest contest for both teams. The Lions cranked out a game-high .500 (18-4-28) hitting percentage to Menlo's .324 (16-5-34). VU had the edge in blocks (2-0) to keep the Oak attack honest, but Menlo returned the favor at the service line (2-0).
The first Lion kill of the afternoon came from Sybesma out of the middle. It was the only VU point from open play. However, Menlo traded errors to hold an 8-4 lead. The Lions kicked off offensively in the midway spell of the set, as Wiley's serving run kept Menlo pinned back defensively. Finley took off from the right side and Nick Dvorak plucked one off the net to keep the Lions on the chase. Freemon purchased two kills from the outside to level the score at 13.
Neither team could create a critical distance from there, as six ties brought the set into its final stages. Menlo took a one-point lead off a VU service error to go up 23-22, but the Lions triggered set-point with a 2-0 run led by Henderson and Jacob Bayston. Menlo seized control but kills from Finley and Freemon off the high hands cemented the 14th tie of the set at 24-24. However, the home team was the first to score two, taking the last two points to win the set.
Set 2 – VU tightened the screws at the service line, matching Menlo 2-2 in aces. But its hitting percentage dipped to .192 (10-5-26) while the Oaks maintained their first-frame rhythm by swinging .348 (10-2-23).
Finley fired a tool off the block and Sybesma ushered two more VU points with a crafty switch up for a 4-4 start. Menlo took the wheel on an 8-3 run to push the Blue and Gold into a timeout. Four Oak service errors and a Finley strike got the Lions back on track, but Menlo regained a sizable lead at 19-12. Sean Nguyen set Freemon out of the back row for two quick kills, but it stood as the last Lion points from open play in the set. Wiley and Finley finished the stanza with a service ace each to close the period, but the Menlo cushion steered the Oaks two sets in front.
Set 3 –The Lions struggled with a negative hitting percentage, (-.031) to steal any hope of gathering momentum late in the set. The 10 VU attacking errors were also impacted by a 6-0 Oak lead in blocks for a dominant showing in the front row.
Freemon and Sybesma helped dampen the early Menlo pressure, snatching a pair of kills as the Oaks led 5-4. Henderson hurled an ace through the back row to cut the deficit to one, 8-7, but a barrage of errors placed the Lions on the backfoot. The Blue and Gold's closest chance to flipping the score in the second half of the set came with a 4-2 run courtesy of two Freemon kills.
Down 16-13, the Lions never gained another opening to close in on Menlo. The Oaks delivered a 7-2 run to go up by eight. VU claimed its last point off a Menlo error, but the Oaks scored the final two points to finish the match and assert the sweep over VU.
What's Next?: The Lions will compete in the MPSF Tournament, which will be held April 22-26 in Malibu and hosted by Pepperdine.
