Lindsay Allman, the former Southern Miss, Bradley, and Wake Forest assistant, has been named head coach at Indiana State.
There was one NCAA men’s match involving teams from the four Division I-II conferences on Tuesday and there have been a flurry of Division I women’s assistants moving around, but first a look at Wednesday’s men’s schedule.
There are two MPSF matches, when No.12 UC Santa Barbara (6-5 overall, 3-5 MPSF) goes to No. 9 Pepperdine (4-3, 2-2) and No. 13 CSUN (9-3, 2-3) plays at UC San Diego (4-5, 1-4).
The MIVA, EIVA and Conference Carolinas are off.
Ball State sweeps Fort Wayne: In a battle of Indiana MIVA teams, No. 11 Ball State rolled over the Mastodons 25-14, 25-20, 25-21.
Ball State, 10-2 overall, 2-1 MIVA, got 16 kills from freshman Matt Szews, who hit .444 and had three blocks and an ace. Junior Mitch Weiler had eight kills and two blocks, senior Brendan Surane had seven kills and junior Matt Walsh had six kills, four blocks and an ace.
“We feel very fortunate and lucky to have a player like Matt Szews on our team because we can feed the ball to him and he wants the ball,” Cardinals coach Joel Walton said. “I’m glad (setter) Connor (Gross) saw that Szews was ready to go and gave him a lot of opportunities tonight.”
Fort Wayne, which dropped to 4-10, 1-1, got 10 kills from Austin Neace, seven from Pelegrin Vargas and six from Richie Diedrich, who also had two blocks.
Allman to the Sycamores: She takes over a team that went 10-20 overall in 2016, 4-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The opening was created when Traci Dahl-Skinner was let go in December after nine years at the Terre Haute school.
Allman graduated from Maine and has a master’s degree from Southern Miss.
“Indiana State is getting a good one in Lindsay Allman,” Wake Forest coach Bill Ferguson said. “In a short time at Wake Forest she had an extremely positive impact on the program and was a tremendous asset to our coaching staff. Lindsay is sharp, professional, motivated and passionate in her methods for coaching and competing at a high level. Her previous knowledge and experience in the Missouri Valley Conference will serve the student-athletes and the program well. The future is bright for Indiana State.”
This is Allman’s first head-coaching job. Her father, John, played football at Indiana State and played with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Jobs open: Among the Division I schools still without a women’s head coach are Virginia of the ACC, Rhode Island of the Atlantic 10, Manhattan of the Metro Atlantic, Penn of the Ivy League and Coppin State of the MEAC.
And, of course, Hawai’i announced this week it will begin a search for Dave Shoji’s replacement in anticipation of him stepping down.
Assistants on the move: Among them, Michigan State head coach Cathy George added Jesse Ortiz, who had been at Miami, Ohio, to her staff. He replaces JT Wenger, who left to become head coach at Texas-Arlington … New Virginia Tech coach Jill Wilson hired former UCLA player Thomas Amberg, who had been a volunteer at LSU, and John Wasielewski, who was an assistant at Duke the past 18 years …
Alabama’s Ed Allen hired Tristan Johnson, a Bama graduate who had been at Arkansas State … Missouri coach Wayne Kreklow lost assistant Deng Yang, who became head coach at Stetson, so he has hired former USA national-team member and Pepperdine two-time AVCA All-American Joshua Taylor … TCU director of volleyball Jill Kramer promoted volunteer assistant Trent Kersten and elevated Brian Write to associate head coach.
Kelly Reeves goes airborne to save a ball Tuesday in the FIVB qualifier in Fort Lauderdale/Stephen Burns photo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. –- Kelly Claes has already experienced beach volleyball at the highest level of the FIVB World Tour and when she found out she couldn’t participate in the Fort Lauderdale Major with USC teammate Sara Hughes, she sought a different partner.
Hughes had already teamed with Olympian Lauren Fendrick. So Claes reached out to former UCLA indoors national-champion Kelly Reeves.
To her surprise, Reeves hesitated.
“We talked a little before and I said, ‘You want to play?’ And she said, ‘I’m not really sure,’ ” Claes recalled. “And I called her up and told her we’re playing.”
Why the hesitation? For one thing, Reeves had played one match on the FIVB World Tour, losing in qualifying with Ali McColloch in the 2016 Cincinnati Open.
“I don’t know,” Reeves said when asked to explain her reluctance. “I’ve never really been through the FIVB. With the different protocol, it’s tough. But we added up our points and saw we could get in, so let’s do it. Playing with Kelly Claes is pretty awesome.”
It was pretty awesome for both on Tuesday, when they hit the qualification rounds and won twice in convincing fashion to reach the main draw of the SWATCH Major Series event, the opening tournament on the 2017 World Tour calendar.
USC senior Kelly Claes attacks for match point against Poland’s Aleksandra Wachowicz/Stephen Burns photo
They’ll begin Pool C __play on Wednesday against third-seeded Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude of Germany, a team that barely missed out on playing in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics but did qualify for the World Tour Finals in Toronto in October.
Will they be intimidated by a pool that includes Brazilians Josi/Lili and Italians Marta Menegatti/Rebecca Perry? Hardly. After all, in their first main-draw experience in last year’s Klagenfurt Major, Claes and Hughes upended two Olympic teams, Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst of Germany and Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas in their first two matches. Ludwig and Walkenhorst, of course, didn’t lose again until after they captured the gold medal in Rio.
“I don’t think we really knew what to expect coming in,” the 21-year-old Claes said of Fort Lauderdale. “With the new partnership, we haven’t trained that much together. We wanted to come out and kind of make a statement for ourselves as an aggressive team and I think we did that today and that’s going to be our game plan throughout this whole tournament.”
They sliced through Poland’s Agnieszka Pregowska/Aleksandra Wachowicz in the morning, 21-10, 21-12, then took only 26 minutes to get past Canada’s Camille Saxton/Julie Gordon, 21-18, 21-17, in the afternoon.
Two Kellys, two wins, too cool.
“We knew the first match was going to be tough, single elimination, but we just got our rhythm and we executed well from the start,” said Reeves, who is 24. “Game two, same thing. We prepared, took it for what it was, we kind of had to ride the coaster a little bit. We knew there was a lot of weight on it but we did a really good job of communicating and taking it one __play at a time. Just embracing the opportunity was awesome.”
Now they’re in with 32 of the top teams in the world. Just another challenge as they try to extend their stay in South Florida beyond Thursday, when pool play decides who advances.
“You definitely feel like a professional when you’re here,” Reeves said. “This is the elite of the elite and it’s really cool to be a part of it. You grow up watching this stuff and now we’re in it. It’s exciting and we’re here on a mission.”
Casey Patterson (passing) and Theo Brunner made the most of pool __play Wednesday, standing at 2-0 including a defeat of Brazilians Alison Cerutti/Bruno Schmidt/FIVB
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – With nothing to lose against the world’s best team, Casey Patterson and Theo Brunner refused to lose.
The newly minted team, hitting the sand for the first time as partners, opened center court __play at the Fort Lauderdale Major by knocking off reigning Olympic champions Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt with a performance that surprised just about everybody but themselves.
“I know it’s still early in our partnership,” said Brunner, who led the way with 10 blocks, including two crucial ones at the end of the second set of a 21-14, 22-20 victory. “We feel like there’s a little variation in our game and if we’re playing well and I’m blocking well and if our ‘D’ is on, we can definitely beat anyone, so we’re not surprised.”
And both Americans warned themselves that they couldn’t rest on the milestone win and they rallied later in the day for an 18-21, 21-19, 17-15 win over German Olympians Markus Bockermann and Lars Fluggen. Patterson and Brunner had to rally from a 10-7 deficit in the third set and scratched their way to a triumph that should enable them to capture Pool C and avoid the first round of eliminations on Thursday.
They pulled off much the same act in the second set against Alison and Bruno, who held a 19-18 lead before consecutive blocks by Brunner turned things around.
“Great blocking by my partner. It doesn’t matter who you are, that’s a lot of blocks,” Patterson said. “It’s tough to play against somebody who’s on fire like that. It could have easily gone the other way with Alison, so we’re just glad that we could see a little bit of the potential that we can bring as a team.”
It was the highlight of a solid day by American men’s teams. Patterson’s Olympic partner, Jake Gibb, teamed with Taylor Crabb to score two wins and Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena also went unscathed in their two matches.
“It felt good to get out and compete with Taylor,” Gibb said. “We need to clean up a few things but it felt good overall.”
John Hyden/Ryan Doherty and Sean Rosenthal/Trevor Crabb split their matches and are in position to advance when pool play concludes Thursday.
They had to wait all day, but Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross opened play under the lights at Fort Lauderdale Park Beach and scored a 21-18, 21-17 victory over new partners Marleen Van Iersel and Manon Nummerdor-Flier of the Netherlands.
And they unveiled a new look. For the first time, Walsh Jennings took the left side and Ross took the right and they couldn’t have been happier with the results.
“The reason was we want to see if we had any more higher potential with me on the right,” said Ross, who added it was the first time in her professional career she took over that side. “Kerri played for three years nonstop on the right and we improved a lot. I don’t think we necessarily hit a peak, but it was like what if we switched things up and see what we can do? Maybe we put ourselves out there for a little faster growth, try something we’ve never tried, so that’s what we’re doing.”
The duo will have two matches Thursday with one coming against another new team, Brazil’s Barbara Seixas and Fernanda Alves. Barbara captured silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics with longtime partner Agatha Bednarczuk.
“We’ve been training a lot against guys and against girls and we felt really comfortable out there,” Walsh Jennings said. “Our rhythm was really good, which is what this whole game is about, and honestly it felt like we’ve been doing this for awhile.
“I was telling April there are a lot of new teams out here and we need to capitalize on that.”
One new American team is Summer Ross and Olympian Brooke Sweat, who opened with a 21-15, 16-21, 15-12 victory over Canadians Kristina May and Taylor Pischke.
“It was nice to get out there and get a win this morning,” Sweat said. “We were really nervous and didn’t play our best, so we are really excited to play again tonight against Germany.”
Lauren Fendrick, Sweat’s Olympic partner, teamed with USC’s Sara Hughes to score a 21-15, 21-14 win over Australians Louise Bawden and Nicole Laird.
“It’s really fun playing with Lauren and I’m excited for our matches tomorrow,” Hughes said.
Patterson and Brunner admitted that their new partnership might have thrown Alison and Brunner off, and Patterson was playing on the right side of a pairing for the first time in five years.
“That’s kind of the high end of the spectrum,” Brunner said of his 10 blocks. “I got in a zone a little bit with the reads and maybe they came out a little slow because of the travel from Brazil, but whatever it was, I’ll take that any match.”
What most impressed Patterson and Brunner was that as a new team, they never folded in crunch time.
“That’s a huge part,” Patterson said of the second-set win over the Brazilians. “That’s better than 21-14 in the first one. It shows that our skin is thick and we’re a team that can deal with some adversity and that’s the biggest part. Anyone can win by a blowout if a team’s not playing well, giving you errors and giving you points, but if you can survive a storm and come out of it on top, that’s a lot of fun momentum to build on from here on out.”
Not only are the 2016 Olympic gold medalists, but Alison/Bruno are also the reigning world champions and two-time World Tour Finals champs. But they didn’t perform up to their lofty standards.
“We gave them a lot of free points. We didn’t put any pressure on so it’s easy when you play like this,” Bruno said. “We gave them a lot of mistakes. We can’t say much about their team because we gave them so many free points. On the World Tour we can’t be successful playing like that.
Eduarda Lisboadives for the Mikasa in their first round of pool play against the USA’s Brittany Hochevar and Emily Day/Stephen Burns
Brazil’s 18-year-old Eduarda Lisboa had a successful debut with silver medalist Agatha Bednarczuk, defeating the USA’s Brittany Hochevar and Emily Day 21-16, 21-10.
Wednesday’s Men’s Matches
Pool A — Round 1
Match 1: Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena United States (1) def. Harley Marques/Ricardo Santos Brazil (32) 21-17, 21-18 (0:36)
Match 2: Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst Austria (17) def. Oleg Stoyanovskiy/Artem Yarzutkin Russia (16) 21-14, 24-22 (0:35)
Round 2
Match 17: Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena United States (1) def. Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst Austria (17) 21-16, 21-19 (0:34)
Match 18: Oleg Stoyanovskiy/Artem Yarzutkin Russia (16) def. Harley Marques/Ricardo Santos Brazil (32) 14-21, 21-17, 15-12 (0:46)
Round 3
Match 33: Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena United States (1) vs. Oleg Stoyanovskiy/Artem Yarzutkin Russia (16)
Match 34: Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst Austria (17) vs. Harley Marques/Ricardo Santos Brazil (32)
Pool B — Round 1
Match 3: Trevor Crabb/Sean Rosenthal United States (31, Q12) def. Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins Latvia (2) 25-23, 25-23 (0:45)
Match 4: Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin Russia (15) def. Kacper Kujawiak/Mariusz Prudel Poland (18) 21-14, 21-16 (0:33)
Round 2
Match 19: Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins Latvia (2) def. Kacper Kujawiak/Mariusz Prudel Poland (18) 21-16, 18-21, 15-10 (0:47)
Match 20: Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin Russia (15) def. Trevor Crabb/Sean Rosenthal United States (31, Q12) 21-13, 19-21, 15-8 (0:45)
Round 3
Match 35: Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins Latvia (2) vs. Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Nikita Liamin Russia (15)
Match 36: Kacper Kujawiak/Mariusz Prudel Poland (18) vs. Trevor Crabb/Sean Rosenthal United States (31, Q12)
Pool C — Round 1
Match 5: Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt Brazil (3) def. Bennet Poniewaz/David Poniewaz Germany (30, Q18) 21-14, 21-19 (0:36)
Match 6: Theo Brunner/Casey Patterson United States (14) def. Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen Germany (19) 18-21, 21-19, 17-15 (0:50)
Round 2
Match 21: Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt Brazil (3) vs. Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen Germany (19)
Match 22: Theo Brunner/Casey Patterson United States (14) vs. Bennet Poniewaz/David Poniewaz Germany (30, Q18)
Round 3
Match 37: Theo Brunner/Casey Patterson United States (14) def. Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt Brazil (3) 21-14, 22-20 (0:35)
Match 38: Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen Germany (19) def. Bennet Poniewaz/David Poniewaz Germany (30, Q18) 21-18, 21-17 (0:38)
Pool D — Round 1
Match 7: Gustavo Carvalhaes/Pedro Solberg Brazil (4) def. Nico Beeler/Marco Krattiger Switzerland (29, Q10) 21-19, 21-14 (0:37)
Match 8: Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek Poland (13) def. Martins Plavins/Haralds Regza Latvia (20) 21-18, 21-17 (0:39)
Round 2
Match 23: Gustavo Carvalhaes/Pedro Solberg Brazil (4) def. Martins Plavins/Haralds Regza Latvia (20) 21-16, 21-13 (0:28)
Match 24: Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek Poland (13) def. Nico Beeler/Marco Krattiger Switzerland (29, Q10) 21-15, 21-15 (0:36)
Round 3
Match 39: Gustavo Carvalhaes/Pedro Solberg Brazil (4) vs. Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek Poland (13)
Match 40: Martins Plavins/Haralds Regza Latvia (20) vs. Nico Beeler/Marco Krattiger Switzerland (29, Q10)
Pool E — Round 1
Match 9: Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak Poland (5) def. Robin Seidl/Tobias Winter Austria (28, Q8) 26-24, 21-17 (0:56)
Match 10: Sam Pedlow/Sam Schachter Canada (12) def. Grant O’Gorman/Michael Plantinga Canada (21) 21-16, 21-13 (0:35)
Round 2
Match 25: Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak Poland (5) def. Grant O’Gorman/Michael Plantinga Canada (21) 21-19, 21-15 (0:36)
Match 26: Sam Pedlow/Sam Schachter Canada (12) def. Robin Seidl/Tobias Winter Austria (28, Q8) 21-18, 22-20 (0:38)
Round 3
Match 41: Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak Poland (5) vs. Sam Pedlow/Sam Schachter Canada (12)
Match 42: Grant O’Gorman/Michael Plantinga Canada (21) vs. Robin Seidl/Tobias Winter Austria (28, Q8)
Pool F — Round 1
Match 11: Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera Spain (6) def. Maciej Rudol/Jakub Szalankiewicz Poland (27, Q6) 21-13, 27-25 (0:30)
Match 12: Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb United States (11) def. Marco Caminati/Alex Ranghieri Italy (22) 21-15, 21-15 (0:36)
Round 2
Match 27: Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera Spain (6) def. Marco Caminati/Alex Ranghieri Italy (22) 18-21, 21-10, 16-14 (0:35)
Match 28: Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb United States (11) def. Maciej Rudol/Jakub Szalankiewicz Poland (27, Q6) 21-14, 23-21 (0:35)
Round 3
Match 43: Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera Spain (6) vs. Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb United States (11)
Match 44: Marco Caminati/Alex Ranghieri Italy (22) vs. Maciej Rudol/Jakub Szalankiewicz Poland (27, Q6)
Pool G — Round 1
Match 13: Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk Canada (7) def. Kay Matysik/Alexander Walkenhorst Germany (26, Q4) 21-14, 21-17 (0:33)
Ben Patch of BYU is the AVCA and MPSF player of the week/BYU photo
By Dennis Michael Stuart for VolleyballMag.com
Ohio State, riding its school-record 34-match winning streak, obviously stays No. 1 in the AVCA coaches poll, but there was plenty of shakeup around the top.
We’ve got the players of the week in the four NCAA men’s conferences, news and notes, including the EIVA’s hall-of-fame announcement, but first a look at Tuesday’s matches.
Fort Wayne (4-9 overall, 1-1 MIVA) goes to No. 11 Ball State (9-2, 1-1). There are two Conference Carolinas matches with Pfeiffer (0-3, 0-3) traveling to Belmont Abbey (2-5, 1-3), while Erskine (0-7) plays independent Coker (4-2).
AVCA Division I-II Poll: Ohio State is 11-0 overall and 2-0 in the MIVA after opening league __play with wins at Ball State and Fort Wayne. Long Beach State moved up a notch to No. 2 and BYU did the same to the third spot after beating UCLA on back-to-back nights. It dropped the Bruins two spots to No. 4. Hawai’i stayed No. 5 and Lewis jumped two spots to No. 6. UC Irvine, Stanford, Pepperdine and Loyola round out the top 10.
Click here for the AVCA Division I-II Poll
AVCA D-I-II POW: BYU junior Ben Patch had a big week, averaging 5.13 kills per set, he hit .435 and also had 24 digs in two wins over UCLA to go with .38 blocks per set.
AVCA D-III Poll: Springfield, SUNY New Paltz and Stevens stayed 1-2-3.
Click here for the AVCA D-III Poll
AVCA D-III POW: Lake Merchen, a junior outside hitter for UC Santa Cruz. He averaged 4.45 kills per set in two victories.
MIVA
Offensive player of the week: Ohio State senior opposite Miles Johnson. Johnson averaged 5.17 kills per set and hit .609 in two victories.
Defensive player of the week: Loyola sophomore outside Collin Mahan. He averaged 1.43 digs and 1.14 blocks in wins over Lindenwood and Quincy.
Key matches of the week: No. 6 Lewis (8-2, 3-1) and No. 10 Loyola (6-3, 2-0) both travel to Ohio State.
Last week’s key results: It’s all about the Buckeyes, although Lewis and Loyola both went 2-0.
Worth noting: Grand Canyon got a couple of poll votes. OSU leads the nation in both blocks/set (2.68) and kills/set (13.69). Setter Christy Blough leads the nation in assists/set (11.48).
Click here for the MIVA standings
Conference Carolinas
Player of the week: King University outside hitter Eddie Moushikhian. The senior averaged 4.17 kills/set and hit .478 to lead the Tornadoes to two conference sweeps.
Key matches this week: King (7-1, 3-0) travels to Emmanuel (1-7, 0-4) on Friday night. Limestone (3-2, 3-1) and North Greenville (3-7, 3-1) travel to Barton (5-3, 4-1) and Mount Olive (5-4, 4-0), switching places the following night.
Last week’s key results: Mount Olive won both its matches over Emmanuel and Erskine, while North Greenville took a five-set thriller over Limestone.
Worth noting: No Conference Carolinas team is ranked. King could get into contention with two more victories. Barton’s Vasilis Mandilaris leads CC with 3.58 kills per set, while J Sobel of Lees-McRae is right behind at 3.53. King’s Joe Wheaton leads in hitting at .422.
Click here for the Conference Carolinas standings
MPSF
Player of the week: BYU opposite Ben Patch. As noted above where he won the AVCA national honor, Patch had a heck of a week. This is the fourth career MPSF POW for Patch.
Key matches this week: With nine MPSF teams in the AVCA top 15, every week features key matches. No. 9 Pepperdine (4-3, 2-2) welcomes No. 12 UCSB (6-5, 3-5) to Malibu on Wednesday. Thursday’s match features No. 4 UCLA (9-3, 6-2) traveling to No. 8 Stanford (6-4, 3-2). The weekend includes UCLA at Pepperdine, Stanford gets UCSB at home, No. 2 Long Beach State (9-2, 5-1) and No. 13 CSUN (9-3, 3-2) both travel to No. 7 UC Irvine (8-4, 5-3) and No. 3 BYU (9-2, 4-1) has a tough road test at USC (3-8, 2-6) which received votes in the latest AVCA Division I poll.
Last week’s key results: BYU took both matches off of UCLA is now in a tie for first place UC San Diego (4-5, 1-4) picked up its first conference victory in almost two years when it upset USC to break a 49-match MPSF losing streak.
Worth noting: Daenan Gyimah of UCLA leads in hitting percentage (.493), just ahead of UCI’s Matthew Younggren (.491). Yoder is tops in kills with 5.00 per set, not only tops in the MPSF, but the best in the nation.
Click here for the MPSF standings
Ryan Santos of Charleston is the EIVA POW/Charleston photo
EIVA
Offensive player of the week: Ryan Santos of Charleston. The junior averaged 4.08 kills/set and hit .427. Santos finished with 49 kills for the week, added 24 digs, five blocks and one service ace.
Defensive player of the week: Sacred Heart junior Joshua Ayzenburg. The libero averaged 3.78digs/set. Ayzenburg had 34 digs for the week and leads the nation in digs/set averaging 3.50.
Key matches this week: The most intriguing match of the week is No. 14 Pen State (6-4, 1-0) at NJIT (4-4, 0-0). The match will feature two of the conference leaders in kills/set with PSU’s Chris Nugent (3.68) and EIVA leader Jabarry Goodridge (4.34) of NJIT. Saint Francis (4-6, 0-1) will look for its first EIVA win as it travels to Princeton (2-5, 0-0) and NJIT.
Last week’s key result: Sacred Heart went 2-0 last weekend sweeping independent Alderson Broaddus (1-9) in both matches.
Worth noting: The EIVA has two teams in the AVCA Division I-II top 15 poll with No. 14 Penn State and No. 15 George Mason (4-4, 1-0). Two teams from EIVA lead the country in a couple statistical categories: Sacred Heart in aces/set (2.24) and Harvard in digs/set (9.86).
Click here for the EIVA standings
EIVA hall adds three: The league, which is in its 45th year, announced that Chris Chase (Penn State ’89), Chris Fazio (Juniata ’97), and Ric Lucas (George Mason ’85) will be honored at the league tournament.
Hawai'i anticipates the retirement of coach Dave Shoji/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
Although he hasn’t announced his retirement, the University of Hawai’i announced Monday that the school is beginning its search for his replacement in anticipation of him stepping down.
Shoji, 70, announced just after the end of last season — his 42nd — that he has prostate cancer.
The university put out the following brief release:
HONOLULU – A nationwide job search for the head coach of the University of Hawai’i women’s volleyball program is now underway. The selection is contingent upon the anticipated retirement of current head coach Dave Shoji, who coached the Rainbow Wahine for 42 years and 1,202 career wins. “Coach Shoji means so much to the University of Hawai’i,” Matlin said. “We’ve been meeting regularly and determined that this was the best step as we move forward with the future of the Rainbow Wahine program.” For those interested in applying, refer to the University’s Work At UH website for information on how to apply (workatuh.hawaii.edu).
This past January 23, Shoji announced that announced the elevation of Kaleo Baxter to assistant coach for the Rainbow Wahine. This past season, Baxter served as the director of operations for both the indoor and beach volleyball teams. Baxter will assist with on-court coaching responsibilities, day-to-day team operations/logistics, and recruiting. The staff also includes associate head coach Jeff Hall.
Hawai’i finished 23-6 in 2016, which included winning the Big West at 15-1. The season ended with a sweep at Minnesota in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Hawai’i was ranked 17th in the final AVCA Division I Coaches Poll.
Shoji’s overall record in 42 years is 1,022-204-1.
Paige Hammons of Sacred Heart in Louisville was the Kentucky "Miss Volleyball" and won a state title
The numbers say girls youth volleyball continues to be one of the fastest-growing sports.
What the numbers don’t officially say is the level of talent in the sport continues to sprout through the roof.
Want proof? Check out the plethora of standouts on our 2016 VolleyballMag.com girls high school All-American teams presented by Lucky Dog Volleyball.
Keep in mind these awards only take into consideration high school performance during the 2016 season. We’ll showcase players’ overall body of work in early February with the release of the 2017 VolleyballMag.com Girl’ Fab 50 list, the oldest and most established ranking of its kind in the country.
First Team
Candice Denny, 6-2, MB, Sr., Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) Denny, player of the year in the West Catholic Athletic League, helped perennial national power Mitty win the first CIF Open Division state title. She finished with 312 kills, hit .392 and had 111 total blocks.
Paige Hammons, 6-2, OH, Sr., Sacred Heart (Louisville, Ky.) The MVP of the Louisville and Nike Phoenix tournaments, Kentucky’s 2016 Miss Volleyball winner, had 606 kills, had 280 digs and hit .369 for a Sacred Heart team that won a state title.
Brooke Heyne, 5-11, OH, Sr., Skutt Catholic (Omaha, Neb.) Heyne, a member of the Nebraska Super State team, hit .451 and had 474 kills for unbeaten Skutt, which won a Class B state title for a second straight year.
Madison Lilly of Blue Valley West was the Kansas City Metro Area player of the year
Madison Lilley, 5-11, S, Sr., Blue Valley West (Overland Park, Kan.) Lilley, the Kansas City Metro Area player of the year, averaged 9.6 assists per set in helping Blue Valley West reach the Kansas Class 6A state-championship match.
Meghan McClure of Santa Margarita HS
Meghan McClure, 6-0, OH, Sr., Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) McClure, who posted 452 kills, 224 digs, hit .304 and was named the Orange County Register’s player of the year, was a key component to a Santa Margarita team that advanced to the CIF Open Division state-championship match.
Kylee McLaughlin of Hebron was named the Dallas Morning News player of year.
Kylee McLaughlin, 5-9, S, Sr., Hebron (Carrollton, Texas) McLaughlin was named the Dallas Morning News player of the year after recording 1,618 assists and 419 digs while helping Hebron win its second straight 6A state title.
Jenny Mosser of Lakeville South High School/Pioneer Press photo, Scott Takushi
Jenny Mosser, 5-11, OH, Sr., Lakeville (Minn.) South Mosser, named the Pioneer Press East Metro player of the year on two occasions, averaged 7.1 kills per set (601 total kills) and 3.4 digs per set for a Lakeville South team that won 30 matches. She also set a state record for kills in a match this season with 49.
Charley Niego, 6-0, OH, Jr., Mother McAuley (Chicago, Ill.) Niego’s 498 kills and 473 digs helped McAuley win the Illinois Class 4A state title and the 2016 Lucky Dog Volleyball/VolleyballMag.com girls high school team of the year honor.
Meredith Norris, 6-3, OH, Sr., Corunna (Mich.) Norris was the recipient of the 2016 Michigan’s Miss Volleyball had 839 kills (6.3 per set) and 538 digs for a Corunna team that won 37 contests. She finished her career with 3,093 kills.
Dana Rettke of Riverside-Brookfield was the Illinois player of the year
Dana Rettke, 6-8, OH, Sr., Riverside (Ill.)-Brookfield Rettke was named the Illinois player of the year as part of the well-respected Champaign News-Gazette’s 35th all-state volleyball presentation. Rettke finished the season with 516 kills and 247 digs as a six-rotation outside. She helped R-B reach a Class 4A supersectional match (state quarterfinals).
Stephanie Samedy, 6-2, RS, Sr., East Ridge (Clermont, Fla.) Samedy won a host of state honors, including being named Florida’s Miss Volleyball, after averaging 6.2 kills per set (442 total kills) to go with 196 digs ad a .385 hitting percentage. Lexi Sun, 6-3, OH, Sr., Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach, Calif.) Sun, the 2016 Lucky Dog Volleyball/VolleyballMag.com girls’ high school player of the year, had 630 kills to help Santa Fe Christian win a CIF San Diego section title and advance to the semifinals of the CIF Open Division state tournament.
Nia Robinson of Cathedral in Indianapolis is a second-team All-American
Second Team
Jayme Cox, 5-4, Libero,, Sr., St. Ursula Academy (Toledo, Ohio) Thayer Hall, 6-2, OH, Jr., Dorman (Roebuck, S.C.) Sydney Hilley, 5-11, S, Sr., Champlin Park (Minn.) Grace Loberg, 6-2, OH, Sr., Geneva (Ill.) Brooke Nuneviller, 5-11, OH-Libero, Jr., Corona del Sol (Tempe, Ariz.) Erin O’Leary, 5-10, S, Jr., Novi (Mich) Brie Orr, 5-10, OH, Sr., Eagan (Minn.) Makena Patterson, 6-4, MB, Xavier College Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.) Nia Robinson, 6-2, OH, Sr., Cathedral (Indianapolis, Ind.) Shannon Scully, 6-2, OH, Sr., Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) Emerson Solano, 5-8, Sr., OH, Amarillo (Texas) Mariah Whalen, 6-1, MB, Sr., Newman (Wausau, Wis.)
Honorable Mention
Taylen Ballard, 6-2, OH, Sr., Clovis (Calif.) Taylor Bannister, 6-6, MB, Sr., Fort Bend Christian (Sugar Land, Texas) Dani Barton, 6-0, OH, Sr., Brighton (Salt Lake City, Utah) Brook Bauer, 6-0, OH, Sr., St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) Annie Benbow, 5-3, Jr., Libero, Hebron (Carrollton, Texas) Britt Bommer, 6-0, S, Sr. Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) Brooke Botkin, 6-4, OH-S, Sr., Pearland (Texas) Kelsey Campeau, 5-4, Libero-DS, Jr., Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) Devon Chang, 5-11, S, Jr., Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) Raigen Cianciulli, 5-5, Libero, Sr., Oak Ridge (Conroe, Texas) Gabby Curry, 5-8, Libero, OH, Sr., Buford (Ga.) Morgan Davis, 6-4, MB, Sr., Bishop Moore (Orlando, Fla.) Samantha Drechsel, 6-3, OH, S-RS, Sr., Cedar Park Christian (Bothwell, Wash.) Kate Formico, 5-9, Libero, Sr., Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) Maddie Goings, 5-11, OH, Sr., (Aledo, Texas) Haley Hallgren, 5-11, OH-Libero, Sr., Carroll (Southlake, Texas) Nicklin Hames, 5-11, RS-S, Jr., Webb (Knoxville, Tenn.) Lexie Hamilton, 5-8, DS, Sr., Assumption (Louisville, Ken.) Ellie Holzman, 6-2, MB, Soph., Mount Carmel (New Orleans, La.) Garrett Joiner, 6-2, OH, Jr., Brentwood (Tenn.) Taryn Knuth, 6-4, MB, Sr., Johnston (Iowa) Mackenzie May, 6-3, OH, Sr., Walhert (Dubuque, Iowa) Chesney McClellan, 6-4, MB, Sr., Maryville (Tenn.) Leketor Member-Meneh, 5-9, OH, Sr., Lutheran South (St. Louis, Mo.) Sarah Nielsen, 6-0, S, Sr., Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.) Elena Ogilvie, 5-9, OH, Fresh., Iolani School (Honolulu, Hawaii) Tyanna Omazic, 6-3, MB, Sr., Northwest (Olathe, Kan.) Ella May Powell, 6-0, S, Jr., Fayetteville (Ark.) Yosianna Pressley, 6-0, OH, Sr., Cypress Falls (Houston, Texas) Elizabeth Reich, 6-1, MB, Sr., Lewis-Palmer (Monument, Colo.) Emma Reilly, 5-7, Libero, Sr., Mother McAuley (Chicago, Ill.) Allison Schomers, 5-11, S, Sr., Skutt Catholic (Omaha, Neb.) Ashley Shook, 6-2, S, Sr., Plainfield (Ill.) Central Sammy Slater, 5-11, OH, Sr., Ventura (Calif.) Sami Slaughter, 6-2, MB, Sr., Harrisburg (S.D.) Alea Steigerwald, 5-8, Sr., S, Penfield (N.Y.) Sarah Swanson, 6-1, MB, Sr., Elkhorn (Neb.) South Jazz Sweet, 6-3, RS, Sr., Shawnee Heights (Tecumesh, Kan.) Callie Williams, 5-8, S, Sr., Midway (Waco, Texas) Lauren Witte, 6-2, MB, Sr., Lake Catholic (Mentor, Ohio)
Based in Greensboro, N.C., Lucky Dog Volleyball retails volleyball equipment and apparel and hosts volleyball events, such as tournaments and recruiting showcases. The company also offers annual sales events in its Greensboro warehouse and at a temporary location in Denver. For more on Lucky Dog Volleyball, visit www.luckydogvolleyball.com.
Penn State's Luke Braswell (4), Matt Callaway (17) and Chris Nugent block SFU's Michael Fisher/Mark Selder photo
The MPSF went on a wild ride Friday night.
No. 4 BYU beat No. 2 UCLA in five, 18-16 in the fifth.
N0. 14 CSUN not only upset No. 7 Stanford, it swept the Cardinal.
And unranked USC knocked off No. 6 UC Irvine in four after losing the second set 42-40.
The ranked teams in the MIVA and EIVA all won and Conference Carolinas has a two five-setters.
All that ahead, but first Saturday’s NCAA men’s schedule.
In the MPSF, UCLA plays at BYU again, No. 5 Hawai’i tries to make it two in a row over visiting UCSB, Stanford tries to regroup at No. 3 Long Beach State and UC San Diego goes for its first league win when it plays at USC.
In the MIVA, top-ranked and unbeaten Ohio State goes to Fort Wayne, McKendree goes to No. 12 Ball State, Lindenwood is at No. 8 Lewis, Quincy plays at No. 10 Loyola, and Grand Canyon continues its California trip at Concordia.
The Conference Carolinas slate shows four league matches with King at Belmont Abbey, Emmanuel at Barton, Erskine at Mount Olive and Pfeiffer at Lees-McRae. North Greenville is out of conference at Coker.
The EIVA has four non-league matches with Charleston playing both Cincinnati Christian and St. Andrews, Harvard is home for Alderson Broaddus and Sacred Heart plays host to Lincoln Memorial.
BYU deals UCLA first MPSF setback: BYU’s 28-26, 25-23, 13-25, 22-25, 18-16 victory, behind 28 kills by Ben Patch, left four teams with one loss each in the standings.
BYU improved to 8-2, 3-1 while beating the Bruins in Provo for the 11th consecutive time. UCLA dropped to 9-2, 6-1. Long Beach State is second in the standings at 8-2, 4-1, just ahead of Stanford, 6-3, 3-1.
Patch hit .422 and tied his career high with 11 digs. Jake Langlois had 13 kills and Brenden Sander added 12. Libero Erik Sikes also had 11 digs.
“It is exciting. I’m happy for our guys,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said. “They served well and they served aggressively. Today we were confident at the service line. It’s hard to see some of the tough moments the guys went though. I have to figure out why we go through those moments.”
There were plenty of moments, especially in the fifth, when Patch scored six of eight points in one stretch. Price Jarman ended it with a solo block, his fourth block of the match.
Dylan Missry led a balanced UCLA attack with a career-high 13 kills. He hit .480 and had a career-best 10 digs. Four others had 12 kills apiece, Oliver Martin, JT Hatch, Daenan Gyimah and Hagen Smith. Hatch, who hit .400, had 10 digs and two blocks. Smith, who hit .348, had nine digs and three blocks. Micah Ma’a had six aces, most by any player in the MPSF this season. UCLA was without two key players as Mitch Stahl and Jake Arnitz sat out with injuries.
Hawai’i’s Stijn van Tilburg attacks against UCSB’s Hayden Boehle, left and Keenan Sanders/Hawai’ii Athletics photo
More MPSF as CSUN, USC score upsets: Arvis Greene was huge for the Northridge team as the junior had a career-high 26 kills and hit .615 as the Matadors beat visiting Stanford 31-29, 25-16, 25-18.
It left CSUN 9-3, 2-3, while Stanford dropped to 6-3, 3-1.
Greene had just two errors in 39 swings and also had four digs and three blocks, one solo.
“Arvis had one of the best nights I’ve ever seen an opposite have,” CSUN coach Jeff Campbell. “It felt like we were setting him every other ball and it was just kill after kill after kill. They were keying on him but there wasn’t much they could do, he was just in a zone.”
CSUN’s Josiah Byers had eight kills and hit .727 and also had five blocks. Dimitar Kalchev had eight kills but was held to an .077 hitting percentage.
Stanford was led by Jordan Ewert’s 10 kills and six digs. Senior Gabriel Vega added eight kills, while sophomore Matt Klassen had seven, but junior Kevin Rakestraw was limited to five kills on a .111 attack percentage.
USC broke a five-match losing streak in a big way, upsetting UCI 25-23, 40-42, 25-23, 25-23.
The points in the second set were both the most ever scored by USC and surrendered by the Trojans in a set in program history dating to 1970. It also was the most total points in any MPSF set since 2008, when Pepperdine beat Long Beach State, 43-41, in the third set of a conference tournament semifinal match.
It left the Trojans, who also broke a four-match losing streak against UCI 3-7, 2-5, while the Anteaters dropped to 8-4, 5-3.
Lucas Yoder, who missed the past two matches with an ankle sprain, had a match-high 29 kills while hitting .360 and added 8 digs. Gianluca Grasso, in just his third match after transferring mid-season to USC from a junior college, had 24 kills, hit .354), and added six digs and three blocks.Andy Benesh had a match-best six blocks, Matt Douglas had 10 digs and Gert Lisha nine.
UC Irvine was led by Michael Saeta, who moved from setter to outside hitter in the second set and ended up with 21 kills. He hit .444) and had four aces and five digs.Scott Stadick added 12 kills while hitting .450, David Parker and Reid Dominguez had eight kills apiece, while Matthew Younggren had five blocks and Dillon Hoffman had a match-leading 11 digs.
When USC plays host to UCSD on Saturday, it will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its first NCAA title in men’s volleyball, with 1977 squad members honored on the court before the first serve.
No. 5 Hawai’i had to work hard for its sweep against visiting No. 11 UCSB 25-22, 30-28, 25-23. It left the Rainbow Warriors 9-2, 2-2, as they won for the 12th consecutive time at home. The Gauchos dropped to 6-4, 3-4.
UH opposite Stijn van Tilburg had a match-high 15 kills, hitting .300. Middle blocker Hendrik Mol had six of the team’s 12 blocks. Senior outside hitter Kupono Fey added six kills while sophomore Brett Rosenmeier came off the bench for with three kills, four digs, and three blocks.
UCSB’s Jacob Delson had 14 kills while Corey Chavers added 10 kills and five digs.
And also in the MPSF, Cal Baptist went out of conference to score a 25-20, 25-18, 25-19 win over visiting Grand Canyon of the MIVA. Cal Baptist is 3-8, while Grand Canyon dropped to 4-5.
Enrique de Diego Garcia had 10 kills with one error in 12 swings for the Lancers, including 9-for-9 in the third set. Kevin Vaz added nine kills.
Lewis’ Mitch Perinar scores a match high 11 kills/Lewis Athletics
MIVA: Lewis, Loyola, Fort Wayne notch victories
Lewis crushed Quincy 25-11, 25-11, 25-18 to improve to 7-2, 2-1, while Quincy dropped to 3-5, 1-1.
Mitch Perinar led Lewis with a match-high 11 kills, four block assists and hit .588. Trevor Weiskircher and Ryan Coenen added six kills apiece. Quincy had 19 kills and hit minus .066.
Lindenwood gave Loyola all it could handle (25-17, 25-15, 22-25, 25-23).
Will Tischler had 14 kills and Collin Mahan added 13 as the Ramblers improved to 5-3 in their MIVA opener. Lindenwood dropped to 0-8, 0-5 and to 0-17 all-time against Loyola.
Tischler added six digs, Mahan had seven digs and five blocks, and Jeff Jendryk had eight kills and five blocks.
Nathan Van Dellen led Lindenwood with 12 kills.
Fort Wayne won for the fourth time in a row and improved to 4-8 as it beat visiting McKendree 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 19-17 in its MIVA opener.
Graydon Schroeder had 17 kills in 21 swings without an error and set the school mark for hitting percentage at .810. The previous record was held by Jason Yhost, which was set in 2008 against Mercyhurst.
Pelegrin Vargas had 14 kills, five aces and four blocks and Colton Stone added 10 kills, two blocks and three aces. Alex Dickmann had 10 kills, two blocks and two aces.
McKendree, 5-7, 1-1, got 16 kills from Maalik Walker, who also had five digs and four blocks. Wyatt Patterson and Jared Wilcox added 13 kills each. Patterson hit .722 and had three blocks, while Wilcox had two digs and three blocks.
EIVA: Penn State shuts down SFU, 3 others win
The No, 13 Nittany Lions were not about to have a repeat of last year, when Saint Francis beat them in regular-season play and then knocked them out of the league tournament. The scores in State College were 25-21, 25-20, 25-18 as Penn State improved to 6-4 and SFU dropped to 4-6 in the EIVA opener for both teams.
“I think this year’s EIVA race is going to be one that’s about protecting your home court,“Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said.
Chris Nugent led Penn State with 16 kills and hit .600. He also had a team-high eight digs. Calvin Mende had 11 kills and hit .474, while Lee Smith added seven kills. The Nittany Lions hit .423.
Michael Fisher led SFA with 18 kills and hit .387 and Jeff Hogan added 11 kills. Stephen Braswell added seven kills and seven digs.
In non-conference matches, Charleston won in four over St. Andrews, Sacred Heart swept Alderson Broaddus and Princeton finished its California trip by getting swept at Concordia.
Princeton lost 25-20, 25-22, 26-24 and fell to 2-4. George Huhmann led the Tigers 13 kills and three blocks. Concordia, 8-6, got 11 kills from Jonathon Predney.
Conference Carolinas: Mount Olive, Barton get league wins
Mount Olive beat visiting Emmanuel 27-25, 22-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-12 to stay atop the standings at 3-0. Mount Olive, 4-4 overall, got 16 kills from Robert Poole and 12 from Bret Rutledge. Rutledge had three of his team’s seven aces, seven digs and four blocks, one solo. Andrew Sydow had five kills and eight blocks, three solo.
Emmanuel, which dropped to 1-6, 0-3, got 17 kills from Ackeem West, who had four of his team’s 23 service errors.
Sophomore Justice Lord hit .667 with seven kills to go along with two service aces and five digs in Barton’s three-set win over Erskine on Friday night/Brittany Arent
Barton improved to 4-3, 3-1 and kept Erskine (0-6, 0-3) winless with its 25-19, 25-20, 25-10 victory. Vasilis Mandilaris led Barton with 12 kills.
Visiting Belmont Abbey got a non-league win over Coker 19-25, 25-19, 28-26, 20-25, 15-8 and improved to 2-4. Coker is 3-2. Gabriel Castro had a big night for Belmont Abbey with 19 kills, hitting .356, and he had 12 digs. Jackson Gilbert added 11 kills and had four of his team’s 13 aces.
Ben Patch attacks against UCLA/Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo
Another day, another round of MPSF unpredictability and a lot of sweeps in NCAA men’s volleyball.
To wit, in the MPSF, UC San Diego won a league match for the first time since the 2014 season, breaking a 49-match losing streak by beating unpredictable USC, and No. 4 BYU swept No. 2 UCLA.
Among the happenings in the EIVA, Alderson Broaddus took a set off Harvard.
There were four league matches in the MPSF and all were sweeps.
And there were five matches in the Conference Carolinas — also four in the league — and all were sweeps.
There are two matches Sunday that involve teams from the four leagues. There is a MIVA matchwhen Quincy goes to McKendree, while the EIVA’s Sacred Heart plays host to Lincoln Memorial.
MPSF:Long Beach, Hawai’i also win
UCSD’s high flying Ian Colbert had 11 kills against USC/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
But start with UC San Diego, which improved to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in the league with its 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23 victory at USC. It left the Trojans, USC, coming off of a four-set road upset of No. 6 UC Irvine on Friday, 3-8, 2-6.
“I’m really proud of their fight,” UCSD coach Kevin Ring said. “We just chipped away and chipped away.”
The last time the Tritons won an MPSF match was when they beat Pacific, which no longer has a men’s program, on April 11, 2014. It also marked the first time UCSD has won four matches in a row since 2012.
Junior opposite Tanner Syftestad had 26 kills, getting 20 or more kills for the fifth straight match and hit .451. He had just three errors in 51 swings. Senior outside hitter Ian Colbert added 11 kills and junior setter Milosh Stojcic complemented 45 assists with a match- and career-high two service aces, a career-best five total blocks, three digs and a kill.
Freshman libero Ryan Lew had 10 digs and handled all 15 of his service receptions cleanly. Freshman outside hitter Xander Jimenez had six kills, six digs, one ace and a match- and career-high seven total blocks, including two solo.
“This was a great win tonight by the Tritons,” Ring said. “We had a hard-fought first set that we came up just short in … We knew that we were playing some good volleyball and still had some room for improvement, things to work on, and adjustments to make. We came back in a close second set and were able to close that out. Then the same thing in the third set, with another deuce game.
“In the fourth, we were in the better position, being up two sets to one. I really wanted our guys to stay the aggressors. We didn’t get off to a good start, through a couple good plays by USC and a couple of off plays on our side of the net. They went up 15-10 and I called a timeout. We talked about, ‘Hey it’s not out of reach. This is still within striking distance, but we don’t have a lot of room for error at this point. We need guys to stick their serve, come up with a couple of key blocks, and really stay aggressive in transition.’ I think we did all three of those things.
Lucas Yoder led USC with 20 kills and added six digs. Gianluca Grasso had 14 kills, six blocks and six digs, Aaron Strange had 11 kills and seven digs, Andy Benesh had eight kills and hit .429 and had four blocks and Gert Lisha had 12 digs.
Before the match, USC’s 1977 team was honored on its 40th anniversary of winning the program’s first NCAA championship.
BYU won the first set easily and then battled to a 25-13, 25-23, 31-29 victory over UCLA, its second win over the visiting Bruins in as many nights.
It left BYU 9-2, 4-1. UCLA is 9-3, 6-2.
“We played a much better, complete match tonight,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said. “One of our points for this game was to be more calm, for the guys to be a little more level-headed. At the start, being up big, you need to be a lot more level-headed, and I was impressed with the guys. I thought we did that. We made the smart plays and didn’t try to over-do it, so it was more of a complete match, and we just got better.”
BYU out-hit UCLA .420 to .198 before more than 4,000 fans.
Ben Patch led with 13 kills and hit .458 and Jake Langlois added 11 kills, hit .556 and also had five digs. Price Jarman had eight kills and hit .800. Langlois had two of his team’s three aces, compared to 17 errors.
UCLA got 10 kills from Hagen Smith, the right side/setter who hit .438. JT Hatch added eight kills. Micah Ma’a had the Bruins’ only two aces but three of their 15 errors, which means the teams combined for five aces and 32 errors. UCLA was again without injured players Mitch Stahl and Jake Arnitz.
The happenings in Provo opened the door for Long Beach State to take over the league lead. No. 3 Long Beach improved to 9-2, 5-1, with its 30-28, 25-14, 25-18 sweep of visiting No. 7 Stanford. The Cardinal dropped to 6-3, 3-1 and a big reason was getting out-hit .418 to .122.
Sophomore setter Josh Tuaniga not only had 32 assists but hit a team-high .667 and tied his career-high of six kills on nine attempts without committing an error. He also added two digs, a block and a service ace.
Kyle Ensing led with 12 kills, hit .360, and added five digs and a block. Andrew Whitt added nine kills and TJ DeFalco eight.
Senior Gabriel Vega led Stanford with 13 kills and hit a season-high .476. No other Cardinal had more than three kills as Stanford combined for just 16 kills in the second and third sets.
No. 5 Hawai’i made it back-to-back over visiting UCSB, dealing the Gauchos a 25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19 loss that left the Rainbow Warriors 10-2, 3-2. Red-hot Stijn van Tilburg led with 24 kills as his team won for the fifth time in a row. It’s Hawai’i’s best record through the first 12 matches of a season since 2005.
Kupono Fey had a season-high 11 kills and hit .435. Libero Larry Tuileta had 13 digs and setter Jennings Franciskovic had 46 assists along with two aces and six digs.
Jacob Delson led UCSB, which dropped to 6-5, 3-5, with 23 kills. He hit .375. Corey Chavers added 18.
MIVA: Ohio State leads sweeps parade
The top-ranked Buckeyes had no letdown after their big win at Ball State on Thursday. By winning at Fort Wayne 25-17, 25-13, 25-21 they improved to 11-0 overall, 2-0 in the MIVA, and won for the 34th time in a row. They out-hit the Mastodons .522 to minus .031.
Nicolas Szerszen led with 13 kills and hit .579. Miles Johnson had 12 kills and hit .588. He also had four blocks.
Fort Wayne, which had won four in a row, dropped to 4-9, 1-1. Pelegrin Vargas led with six kills but hit minus .118.
Ball State’s Connor Gross had 37 assists against McKendree Friday/Ball State athletics
No. 12 Ball State bounced back by beating visiting McKendree 25-16, 25-21, 25-16. Brendan Surane led with 16 kills and hit .625. He added five digs and three blocks. Matt Szews added 10 kills, eight digs and a block and Anthony Lebryk had eight kills. Their team out-hit McKendree .430 to .193.
It left Ball State 9-2, 1-1, while McKendree fell to 5-8, 1-2.
McKendree got 13 kills from Nolan Reuter and 10 from Maalik Walker, who also had two blocks.
No. 8 Lewis swept visiting Lindenwood 28-26, 25-19, 25-20 to improve to 8-2, 3-1.
Lindenwood is 0-9, 0-8.
Ryan Coenan and Mitch Perinar led Lewis with 14 kills apiece. Blake Koppel had 12 for Lindenwood.
No. 10 Loyola crushed visiting Quincy 25-17, 25-17, 25-12. It left the Ramblers 6-3, 2-0, and Quincy 3-6, 1-2.
Jeff Jendryk led Loyola with 11 kills and hit .786. He had three of his team’s six aces and three digs. Paul Narup had 10 kills in 11 errorless swings and hit .909.
David Siebum led Quincy with 10 kills and hit .471.
In a non-league match, Grand Canyon won at Concordia Irvine 25-21, 25-18, 24-26, 26-24. GCU is 5-5, while Concordia is 9-7.
EIVA: Four non-conference winners
And two of them were Charleston, which beat Cincinnati Christian in three and St. Andrews in three. Harvard had to go four to beat Alderson Broaddus and Sacred Heart swept Lincoln Memorial, which it plays again Sunday.
Conference Carolinas: All sweeps
Sophomore Nick Leary had three aces and eight kills in the win over Emmanuel/Brittany Arent
King beat Belmont Abbey, Barton defeated Emmanuel, Mount Olive did the same to Erskine and Lees-McRae downed Pfeiffer. North Greenville lost to Coker.
Mount Olive remained atop the league at 5-4, 4-0. No details were available about its victory.
King’s 25-23, 25-22, 25-19 victory left it 7-1, 3-0. Belmont Abbey is 2-5, 1-3.
Barton’s 25-18, 25-12, 25-22 win left it 5-3 and on pace with King at 4-1. Emmanuel is 1-7, 0-4.
Maxime Hervoir, left, Blake Leeson, middle, and Christy Blough put up the triple block against Ball State's Matt Szews/Ball State Athletics photo
If there was any doubt, Ohio State left no question about which is the team to beat this season in NCAA men’s volleyball.
The top-ranked Buckeyes improved to 10-0 by winning their MIVA season opener for both teams, 29-27, 25-19, 25-22 at Ball State on Thursday night, but the real number is 33.
That’s because Ohio State, which hasn’t lost since February 6 of last year, extended its winning streak to 33 matches, which includes, of course, winning last spring’s NCAA championship.
All about that match and No. 3 Long Beach State’s sweep of No. 9 Pepperdine and more, but first a look at Friday’s matches on a busy night ahead in men’s volleyball.
Start with the MPSF, where No. 2 UCLA (9-1, 6-0) plays on back-to-back nights at No. 4 BYU (7-2, 2-1). No. 7 Stanford (6-2, 3-0) goes to No. 14 CSUN (8-3, 1-3), No. 6 UC Irvine (8-3, 5-2) plays host to USC (2-7, 1-5), and No. 11 UCSB (6-3, 3-3) plays back-to-back at No. 5 Hawai’i (8-2, 1-2). Cal Baptist (2-8) steps out of conference when Grand Canyon of the MIVA (4-4) visits.
Also in the MIVA on Friday, No. 8 Lewis (6-2, 1-1) plays host to Quincy (3-4, 1-0), No. 10 Loyola (4-3, 0-0) entertains Lindenwood (0-7, 0-4) and McKendree (5-6, 1-0) goes to Fort Wayne (3-8, 0-0).
In the EIVA, when you consider that last year Saint Francis really shook things up by beating Penn State not only in the regular season but bounced the Nittany Lions out of the league tournament, their conference opener at State College should be fierce. Saint Francis is 4-5, while Penn State is 5-4. There are three other non-conference matches involving league teams as Charleston (4-3) goes to St. Andrews, Sacred Heart (4-1) plays host to Alderson Broaddus and Princeton (2-4) finishes its California trip at Concordia.
Ohio State sweeps Ball State: Miles Johnson had a big night for the Buckeyes as the senior opposite had 19 kills in 29 swings with just one error to hit .621. He also had two aces, two digs and three blocks.
“He had a great night,” Ohio State coach Pete Hanson said. “Miles is just really playing with a lot of confidence right now. I think he and (setter Christy Blough) are in a really good rhythm and he’s just having a great year so far.”
Nicolas Szerszen was also almost unstoppable as the junior outside had 13 kills in 19 swings and hit .526.
“It’s kind of funny because a lot of teams really believe that Nic stirs our drink and quite frankly really it’s been Miles for the last half of last year and the start of this year, at least killing the ball,” Hanson said. “Szer does a lot of other things, passing and serving and digging and things like that, but when we need a tough side out the guy we go to is number 13.”
Szerszen had five of Ohio State’s nine aces and seven digs.
“Nick’s a gamer,” Hanson said. “No doubt about it, when the stakes are the highest that’s when he plays his best volleyball. We’ve come to count on that.”
Maxime Hervoir of Ohio State gets stuffed by the Ball State triple block/Ball State Athletics photo
Maxime Hervoir added eight kills, six digs and four blocks, one solo.
Ohio State hasn’t lost since losing to Ball State nearly a year ago and the last time the program has a 32-match winning streak, in 1970, it lost to Ball State.
“At least we don’t have to print again that Ball State stops the streak,” Hanson said with a laugh. “That was the best part about it.”
Ohio State has won 99 of 118 sets during the streak and now goes after Loyola’s 40-match run accomplished in 2014-15.
Ball State led 21-16 in the first set but Johnson and Szerszen led the Buckeyes back into it. Johnson, who had 11 kills in 13 errorless swings in the set, tied it at 22.
“He had four hands in front of him a lot of times and he still delivered the mail for us,” Hanson said.
Before it was over Szerszen had three of his six kills in the set.
“We weren’t that sharp in that first set,” Hanson admitted. “We gave away a lot of easy points and didn’t pass the ball very well and if weren’t for Miles in terms of killing the ball in any and all situations, I think Ball State would have beat us and probably should have beaten us.”
Ball State, which fell to 8-2, got 14 kills from Matt Szews, who hit .333 and had four digs and the Cardinals’ only ace. Brendan Surane added 11 kills and hit .474.
“We had our defense try to slow them down, and they were just too good,” Ball State coach Joel Walton said. “We did everything we could, and they still found holes in our blocks. The credit goes to Ohio State.”
Matt Walsh had nine kills and hit .500 but he and Szews had three each of their team’s eight service errors.
“The lesson for our guys is you just can’t relax,” said Walton, whose Cardinals led 13-9 in the third set and were tied as late as 19-19.“Just because we played close in game one doesn’t mean game two is going to be easy. We have to maintain the same kind of focus, the same kind of determination through the entire match.”
Ball State plays again Saturday when McKendree visits Muncie, while Ohio State goes to Fort Wayne. Don’t expect a letdown from the Buckeyes, who last weekend beat Barton and Long Beach at home, took Monday off.
“And then Tuesday we just had a horrific practice,” Hanson said. “And I looked at them and I thought what’s going on. And it dawned on me that was the time when the first set of mid-terms hit. I asked them how many guys are taking mid-terms and literally every hand went up. And I thought, here we go again.
“But I told them it’s a tough week and we’ve got to deal with it and we’ve got to get ready for Thursday.”
The game was originally scheduled for Friday, Hanson said, but was moved to accommodate Ball State basketball, which plays host to Buffalo on ESPNU.
“Our guys are really resilient,” Hanson said. “They don’t think too far ahead, they don’t let things worry ‘em. They just put on the uniform and go out and play. Take care of business and move on.”
Long Beach State sweeps Pepperdine: Andrew Whitt had the best match of his career as the outside hitter had a personal-best 11 kills, hit .391, and added 10 digs and two blocks as the Beach beat the visiting Waves 25-20, 25-17, 25-21.
It left Long Beach 8-2 overall and 4-1 in the MPSF, while Pepperdine fell to 4-3, 2-2.
Sophomore Kyle Ensing led Long Beach with 15 kills, hitting .462. He also had six digs, two blocks and one of his team’s four aces. TJ DeFalco had 12 kills, hit .348, five digs and one of those aces.
Pepperdine’s David Wieczorek led his team with 13 kills, hitting .312, and two blocks. Michael Wexter added seven kills and led with eight digs.
NJIT, Sacred Heart get victories: Jabarry Goodridge had 17 kills to lead NJIT at Rutgers-Newark 25-16, 25-21, 25-19. It left the Highlanders 4-4. Raymond Kowalski added eight kills and Brad Thele had seven. Rutgers-Newark is 1-6.
Sacred Heart beat visiting Alderson Broaddus 25-18, 25-20, 25-18 behind Chris DeLucie’s 15 kills. He also had seven digs and two blocks. Taylor Bloomquist had six kills, hit .750, and had five blocks, two solo.
Sacred Heart is 4-1, while Alderson Broaddus is 0-6.
