Off the Block

Category: Division I-II

  • Q&A with Penn State coach Mark Pavlik

    For the first time in five years, the No. 7 Penn State men’s volleyball team will play a regular season home match against a team from the MPSF.

    The Nittany Lions will play No. 8 UC Irvine at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Cal State Northridge at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. In addition, No. 9 Ohio State will travel to University Park, Pa., this weekend to play these two West Coast teams at Rec Hall.

    Penn State (6-1, 2-0 EIVA) traditionally travels to the West Coast twice per season to play top ranked MPSF schools. However, UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge this weekend will become the first MPSF teams since Long Beach State in 2006 to play a regular season match at Penn State.

    Off the Block conducted an interview with Penn State coach Mark Pavlik earlier this week to discuss the upcoming home matches this weekend.
    (more…)

  • Final 2 spots on my media poll ballot this week leaves room for debate

    It’s about 1 a.m. Sunday and I’m sitting at my computer desk, shaking my head with all the match results now in for the weekend.

    The top eight spots are set for my voting ballot this week in the ASICS/Volleyball Magazine Men’s Division I-II Media Poll. It’s the final two spots that have me pondering late into the night as I get ready to go to sleep.

    Parity doesn’t make it easy for a poll voter and I have about five teams who could move into my top 10 ballot this week.
    (more…)

  • My men’s volleyball media poll ballot

    Well it took a bunch of hours going over box scores, game articles and videos, but I finally have my first ballot of the year for the ASICS/Volleyball Magazine Men’s Division I-II Media Poll.

    The first few weeks are always a little bit difficult to rank because you are still balancing preseason expectations with how the team is actually playing and who it has beat. Some teams like USC and Stanford have lived up to the preseason hype setting themselves above everyone else. While other teams like UC Irvine and Hawai’i are beginning to play well after horrific starts.

    Check out this week’s top 10 men’s volleyball media poll and my ballot with explanations on why ranked each team where I did.
    (more…)