Southern Virginia Men’s Volleyball Senior Night
By Gabe Wagner
On Friday, April 1 the Southern Virginia University men’s volleyball team played the University of California Santa Cruz Banana Slugs and honored their seniors: Paul Candland, Nahuel Recabarren, Kaipo Tagaloa and Sebastian Noble.
With the 2022 season rounding the finish line, the team has remained strongly ranked as number eight in the country and second in the Continental Volleyball Conference.
Southern Virginia men’s volleyball team has been a Cinderella story riddled with success. Since joining the DIII conference, Southern Virginia’s men’s volleyball team has had two conference championships, three NCAA All-Americans, two NCAA tournament appearances and a final four appearance in the 2021 NCAA tournament in just five years.
Paul Candland (’22) is a business major from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Candland started his career at Southern Virginia in the 2016–17 season. He then served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 2017–19, returning to the team in 2020 to finish out his volleyball career.
Playing as an outside hitter, Candland has provided a dynamic set of abilities this year as he averaged 1.57 kills per set with a .244 hitting percentage. Candland has shown leadership in his role as captain on the team, with intensity and grit.
Outside of the team, Candland and his wife Kelley recently welcomed their newborn daughter to the family, Alli May.
Nahuel Recabarren (’22) is an outside hitter, originating all the way from San Juan, Argentina. Amongst his incredibly long list of accolades, Recabarren is a three-time NCAA All-American with over 1000 kills to his name in addition to being the leading offensive force for the Knights.
In all of Division III volleyball, Recabarren is currently ranked ninth in points per set and tenth in kills per set.
Outside of volleyball, Recabarren is a talented photographer and enjoys spending time with his dogs Lyra and Aquila. After graduation, Recabarren plans on attending graduate school for architecture.
Kaipo Tagaloa(’22) has been the Knights starting setter for the past six years. After serving a mission in Nashville, Tennessee, Tagaloa came to Southern Virginia and has helped the team consistently be one of the top offensive teams in the country. In 2019, 2020 and 2021 Tagaloa received all conference team honors while being within the top of the nation in assists per set.
Off the court, Tagaloa runs a snowboarding brand called “Snowluce,” selling merchandise and promoting various snowboarders.
Sebastian Noble (’22) comes from Puerto Rico and has helped the Knights over the last 3 years, playing multiple different positions. Noble started his career as a libero, averaging 1.04 digs per set. Since then, Noble has played just about every other position on the court.
Noble is a passionate entrepreneur who owns a business in downtown Buena Vista called “Axe Warehouse.”
After graduating from Southern Virginia with a degree in business, Noble plans on owning multiple businesses (with plans for a car wash already in the works).
After winning the first set 25–11, the Knights found themselves in a hole as they lost the next two sets. The UCSC Banana Slugs were unable to finish out the game as the Knights came back, winning the fourth set. The Knights started out strong in the fifth set by making it to the first game point at 14–12 but, the Banana Slugs came back.
Both teams found themselves in a deadlock as they fought back and forth until a block by Recabarren gave his team the chance to win the game, which he followed with an ace to win the game at 27–25.
