Quick hits: 5 things to take away from this weekend’s college men’s volleyball matches

A record-setting night of five-game matches and several top-five nationally ranked teams picking up critical conference victories highlighted the last few days of college men’s volleyball.

Check out the five things to take away from the weekend in college men’s volleyball.

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1. Pepperdine takes down BYU — Outside attack Josh Taylor had a game-high five kills and an ace in the decisive fifth game to lead No. 4 Pepperdine to a conference victory against No. 3 BYU on Friday. Taylor in the victory finished with a match-high 19 kills. In addition, the Waves became the first team to beat the Cougars in conference play this season.

2. Crabb rallies Long Beach State past Stanford — All-American outside attacker Taylor Crabb had a career-high 29 kills as No. 6 Long Beach State rallied from a two-game road deficit to defeat No. 7 Stanford in five games on Friday. Long Beach State completed its weekend Northern California road trip with a sweep against Pacific on Saturday to jump to fifth place in the MPSF.

3. Loyola dominant in MIVA opener — The pressure of being No. 1 in the national coaches poll wasn’t too much for Loyola. Loyola days after earning the top-ranking in the national poll for the first time in program history swept Ohio State in its conference opener Saturday. Outside attacker Joseph Smalzer in the victory had a match-high 17 kills and five aces, while outside attacker Cody Caldwell added 13 kills.

4. Tons of matches going the distance — It was a long night of volleyball Friday. Eight of the 13 NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball played Friday went to a decisive fifth game. This was the most five-game matches in a single-day so far this season. Among the matches that five games included four of the five MPSF matches played that night.

5. Ball State knocks off IPFW — In an in-state rivalry match that lived up to the hype, Ball State rallied from a one-game deficit to defeat IPFW in five games on Friday. Middle attacker Matt Leske in the victory had a match-high 12 blocks, while libero David Ryan Vander Meer led all players with a career-high 22 digs. In addition, the conference match was played in front of 1,060 people — the highest home attendance for a match involving a MIVA team this seaosn.

2 Replies to “Quick hits: 5 things to take away from this weekend’s college men’s volleyball matches”

  1. The loyola match had an attendance of 1834 according to the box score, which would be the largest for a MIVA match this season.

  2. The IPFW croud was the highest home attendance for a MIVA team for a day. The Loyola – Ohio State match eclipsed it the next day.

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