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Check out the five things to take away from the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball matches this weekend.
BYU, Long Beach State break even — No. 2/3 Long Beach State and No. 3/2 BYU split their two-match weekend series. The Cougars had 15.5 blocks as it won the series opener in four games on Friday. In addition, freshman outside attacker TJ DeFalco finished with a match-high 16 as Long Beach State swept BYU in the series final on Saturday.
UC Irvine struggles continue — No. 4/4 UC Irvine suffered two road upsets during the weekend as it lost to No. 10/11 Pepperdine on Friday and No. 8/5 Stanford on Saturday. The Anteaters, which were picked to finish in second place in the MPSF Preseason Poll, have lost three of their first four conference matches and are in ninth place in the MPSF.
UCLA knocks off rival — No. 1/1 UCLA remained undefeated and in sole possession of first place in the MPSF with a four-game victory against No. 15 USC on Saturday. Outside attacker Jake Arnitz had a match-high 14 kills on a .480 attack percentage in the rivalry win. USC with this loss is now on a six-match losing streak — its longest losing streak to open a season in program history.
St. Francis keeps rolling — Outside attacker Stephen Braswell had a match-high 19 kills along with the match-winning kill as St. Francis defeated No. 14 Ball State in five games on Sunday. This is the second consecutive week the Red Flashes have upset a nationally ranked team.
Snow creates scheduling havoc — Nine matches were postponed or cancelled this weekend because of inclement weather from Winter Storm Jonas. Among the postponed matches that could have a significant effect on the RPI if not rescheduled includes No. 7/8 Ohio State play host to the defending Conference Carolinas champions Pfeiffer.