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Check out the five things to take away from the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball matches this weekend.
1. UC Irvine jumps into first — All-American libero Michael Brinkley had a match-high 12 digs as No. 3 UC Irvine held No. 8 UC Santa Barbara to less than a .200 attack percentage in its sweep on Saturday. With this victory, UC Irvine moves a half-match ahead of second-place No. 5 BYU and into sole possession of first-place of MPSF while extending its winning streak to seven matches.
2. Upsets throughout MIVA — McKendree in its inaugural season in the MIVA earned both its first conference win and first all-time win against a nationally ranked team as it upset No. 12 IPFW in four games on Saturday. In addition, Grand Canyon upset No. 11 Ohio State in five games on Saturday to split their two-match weekend series.
3. Kalmbach pounds Stanford — All-conference opposite Parker Kalmbach finished with a match-high 19 kills on a .680 attack percentage to help No. 5 Pepperdine sweep Stanford on Friday. Pepperdine out-hit Stanford .468 to .266 for its first road victory against the Cardinal since 2008.
4. Ranked teams struggle — Teams ranked No. 10-15 in the national coaches poll — Long Beach State, Ohio State, IPFW, Ball State, Princeton and Cal State Northridge — went a combined 1-7 during the weekend. In addition, No. 15 Cal State Northridge on its bye week was the only one of those teams not to lose a match during the weekend.
5. St. Francis wins marathon game — St. Francis overcame five game-points to defeat Sacred Heart in overtime 37-35 in the opening game of its sweep on Saturday. The 24-point overtime is the longest EIVA game so far this season.