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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 balanced attack beats Pepperdine — No. 5 UC Irvine had four players finish with double digit kills as it defeated No. 4 Pepperdine in five games on Saturday. Outside attackers Tamhir Hershko and Kyle Russell both led the Anteaters with 18 kills, while middle attacker Jason Agopian had a career-high 13 kills.
2. Log jam atop MPSF standings — No. 2 USC, UC Irvine and No. 7 BYU moved into a three-way tie for first place in the MPSF. In addition, both Pepperdine and No. 6 Hawai’i are within one-match of first place in the conference standings. All five teams also have two conference losses so far this season.
3. Rivalry win puts Princeton in first — Opposite Cody Kessel finished with a match-high 22 kills and three aces to help Princeton defeat its rival No. 13 Harvard in four games on Friday. With this victory, the Tigers are in sole possession of first place in the EIVA and one of two EIVA teams yet to lose a conference match.
4. Loyola remains perfect — No. 1 Loyola remains the only undefeated team in the nation as it swept No. 15 Ball State on Saturday. This was the Ramblers’ fifth consecutive sweep and they have yet to lose a game at home so far this season.
4. Big block lifts BYU — Middle attacker Michael Hatch had a match-high seven blocks as No. 7 BYU defeated No. 2 USC in four games on Saturday to split their two-match series. The Cougars in the victory had 15.5 blocks and held the Trojans to a season-low .149 attack percentage.