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Add even more chaos to the college men’s volleyball season with four of the top-10 nationally ranked teams losing during the weekend.
Check out the top five things to take away from this weekend in college men’s volleyball.
1. BYU keeps winning streak alive — No. 6 BYU extended its winning streak to a nation-best six matches with home victories against No. 8 Stanford and Pacific during the weekend. Outside attacker Taylor Sander had a team-high 30 combined kills in the two matches and in the sweep against Pacific finished a match with zero attack errors for the first time in his college career.
2. The curse of No. 1 — For the fifth consecutive week, the No. 1 ranked team in the national coaches poll lost as No. 1 Pepperdine lost in a five games to No. 4 Long Beach State on Friday. This loss also could result in an unprecedented sixth team holding a No. 1 ranking in the coaches poll during the first six weeks of the college men’s volleyball season.
3. Cal State Northridge shocks USC — Cal State Northridge two days after almost upsetting No. 1 Pepperdine rebounded to sweep No. 7 USC in conference play Friday. The Matadors in the victory held the Trojans to a season-low .100 attack percentage. In addition, outside attacker Damani Lenore had a match-high 13 kills — the second consecutive match that the freshman led the Matadors in kills.
4. Smalzer strong serve lifts Loyola — All-American outside attacker Joseph Smazler had a combined 10 aces as No. 2 Loyola defeated Sacred Heart and Harvard on the road this weekend. Smazler finished with a season-high seven aces in the four game victory against Sacred Heart and now leads the nation with 23 aces. With these victories, the Ramblers are also in position to potentially earn the No. 1 ranking in the national coaches poll for the first time in the program’s history.
5. Erskine still perfect in conference play — Erskine rallied from a one-game deficit to defeat the defending-Conference Carolinas regular season champions Mount Olive in four games on Saturday to remain undefeated in conference play. Outside attacker Michael Michelau in the victory had a match-high 25 kills, while outside attacker Mike Kawa added 24 kills with a .475 attack percentage.