A lot happened in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the last 72 hours. Check out some of the top headlines and news from the college men’s volleyball weekend.
Perfect 20 for UCLA – No. 1/1 UCLA hit more than .350 on back-to-back nights as it swept a two-match road series against No. 14 Stanford. Middle attacker Cameron Thorne in the wins had a combined 18 kills, including a match-high 10 kills on a .750 attack percentage in the opener. UCLA with these wins improves to a 20-0 – a feat that no UCLA team has achieved since 1984.
Penn State takes control of EIVA – No. 17 Penn State swept a two-match series against No. 19 NJIT to remain undefeated in conference play and extend its first -place lead in the EIVA. NJIT entered this series between the only ranked EIVA teams in second place and a half-match behind Penn State. Middle attacker Owen Rose in the victories had combined 12 blocks. In addition, Rose had nine kills and zero errors on a .900 attack percentage in the series opener.
Lindenwood survives scare – No. 11/8 Lindenwood had to fight off four match-points en route to beating No. 20 Purdue Fort Wayne in a fifth-game overtime. Opposite Luke Kraft delivered the walk-off ace – the junior’s sixth ace of the match – to end the 12-point overtime. Middle attacker Amir Grant also contributed a team-high six and 11 kills and zero errors on a .846 attack percentage against the Matadors.
Ball State, Rogers too much – Outside attacker Patrick Rogers led all players with both 17 kills on a .625 attack percentage and 15 digs in a road sweep against No. 12 McKendree on Saturday. No. 7/7 Ball State with this victory remains in sole possession of first place in the MIVA.
Fort Valley State three-peats – Fort Valley State swept a two-match road series against Central State during the weekend to clinch at least a share of the SIAC regular season title and the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. The Wildcats have won three consecutive conference titles and are on a 30-match SIAC winning streak dating back in 2024.
Long Beach State bounces back – No. 3/3 Long Beach State utilizing multiple setters because of an injury finished with a .561 attack percentage in a sweep against No. 18 CSUN on Saturday. This victory came after Long Beach State lost twice to No. 2/2 Hawai’i last week and then went to a decisive fifth in its series opening win against CSUN.
Pepperdine powers past BYU – Outside attacker Ryan Barnett had a combined 34 kills in a two-match road sweep against No. 9/9 BYU, including a match-high 20 kills on a .643 attack percentage in the series finale on Saturday. No. 6/6 Pepperdine hit more than .400 in both matches and remains undefeated in the MPSF.
Roosevelt rallies for GLVC win – Roosevelt rallied from a two-game deficit and a 13-point loss in the second game to beat Quincy in five games on Friday. Outside attacker Mark Zmojdzin led Roosevelt with both 17 kills and three aces in the comeback win. Roosevelt split its two-match series against Quincy and is in third place in the GLVC.
Logjam in ConfCarolinas — Belmont Abbey and Mount Olive are firmly atop the ConfCarolinas standings – everything is not as clear cut. The third through seventh place teams after the results from this weekend are all within two matches of each other. The top six teams in the ConfCarolinas qualify for the conference tournament.
Long Island wins borough battle – Outside attacker Kale Spencer had a match-high 22 kills on a .459 attack percentage in five-game victory against Manhattan on Friday, including six kills in the decisive game. Outside attacker Ike Vernon also had a match-high 17 kills and hit .500 in the series finale Saturday to help complete the NEC series sweep.
Dominican stuns St. Thomas Aquinas – Outside attacker Phinehas Wiley had a team-high 18 kills on a .382 attack percentage as Dominican upset St. Thomas Aquinas in five games on Sunday. This is the second time St. Thomas Aquinas has lost an ECC match since the league started in 2024 and ended a 17-match conference winning streak.
UC Merced gets program first – UC Merced upset Concordia in four games on Friday for the program’s first MPSF victory. Outside attacker Mason Stokes led the first-year MPSF team with 14 kills on a .357 attack percentage.