Off the Block

Category: Division I-II

  • Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    The end of March madness has the potential to be the most madding.

    Two matches between teams ranked in the top 10 are the main features of tonight’s men’s volleyball schedule. Other matches around the nation, though, as provide some intrigue as No. 9 Penn State returns to place where it suffered one of its biggest upsets in program history and Hall of Fame coach Arnie Ball makes his third attempt at a career milestone.

    Check out the top five men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight.
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  • Live chat: Ball State vs. Lewis

    Off the Block is at Worthen Arena in Muncie, Ind., to cover live the men’s volleyball match between Ball State and Lewis. Check out the live chat below for instant updates and to interact with other fans or pose questions for Off the Block to answer.

    Click here for the live chat Ball State vs. Lewis

  • Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    This week has been anything but dull in men’s volleyball.

    Five top-10 ranked teams will be in action tonight, one day after four teams ranked in the media poll all lost. No. 4 BYU playing No. 6 Hawai’i is the only match between two top 10 teams. However, not to be overlooked is No. 1 USC playing against the only team it lost to this season and a Hall of Fame coach being on the verge of achieving a milestone.

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  • Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    It’s such a big night in men’s volleyball that Off the Block is coming out with a special midweek top five matches to follow tonight.

    Six of the top 10 teams will play tonight, including two matches between nationally ranked teams. No. 6 Hawai’i traveling to No. 4 BYU and No. 5 UCLA closing out Pauley Pavilion against No. 5 UC Irvine highlight tonight’s matches. However, there are also two intriguing non-conference matches as No. 2 Ohio State takes its 17 match winning streak to the West Coast and Cal Baptist looks to pull off its second upset of a top 10 team in less than a week.

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  • Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    The madness of March has surprisingly hit men’s volleyball.

    One day after No. 2 BYU lost to an unranked team and No. 6 Long Beach State lost on its home court, the two teams will look to salvage the weekend to avoid a significant drop in the polls. In addition, tonight features several interesting non-conference matches as a Hall of Fame coach attempts to get a milestone win and No. 3 Stanford returns to the court after a 14-day layoff.

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  • Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    It’s the biggest week of March Madness for men’s basketball but men’s volleyball is in the doldrums tonight.

    With most teams having a full or partial bye week, four of the top 10 teams are in action tonight and there is one match between two ranked teams in the media poll. However, tonight also features several intriguing individual match-ups as some of the blockers in the nation will go up against the best offensive players in the nation.

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  • Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    One of the biggest non-conference weeks of the season will come to a close tonight.

    Following Penn State and Lewis defeating two top 10 ranked MPSF teams in the Active Ankle Challenge, the EIVA and MIVA teams will each play another nationally ranked West Coast team tonight. Not to be overlooked in conference play, though, is a match between two of most efficient offensive teams in the nation as No. 1 USC and No. 7 UC Irvine play each other.

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  • No. 10 Hawai’i to play tonight after tsunami warning canceled

    The No. 10 Hawai’i men’s volleyball team’s home match tonight will not be postponed after a tsunami warning for the state ended earlier today.

    Hawai’i will open its two-match weekend home series against Pacific at its initially scheduled time of 7 p.m. Friday in Honolulu, the school’s Director of Media Relations Derek Inouchi stated via e-mail earlier today.

    A tsunami warning was issued for Hawaii along with a mass statewide evacuation of the coastal area after a tsunami killed hundreds of people in Japan. The tsunami resulted from a 8.9 earthquake near Japan’s east coast.
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  • Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    It’s Spring Break and the Midwest and East Coast men’s volleyball teams are fleeing to the warm weather of California.

    With about five EIVA and MIVA teams playing against California teams this week, Mid-March is typically when teams will schedule non-conference road trips coinciding with its Spring Break. Highlighting this week of non-conference play is the four-team Active Ankle Challenge at Long Beach State, which opens with the only match tonight between teams ranked in the top 10. In addition, No. 8 UCLA tonight plays its final non-conference match at Pauley Pavillion before the stadium later this year for renovations.

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  • Q&A with UC Santa Barbara coach Rick McLaughlin

    Coach Rick McLaughlin and his UC Santa Barbara team main goal entering this season was to make the MPSF Tournament — it was a lofty goal given the program’s recent history.

    The No. 6 Gauchos had missed the eight-team conference tournament for the last five years — the third longest active streak in the MPSF. With six conference matches remaining, though, UC Santa Barbara (11-8, 9-7 MPSF) is in sixth place in the MPSF and poised to qualify for its first postseason tournament since 2006.

    In addition, UC Santa Barbara has been ranked as high as No. 3 this season. It is also the only team in the nation to have two players, Jeff Menzel and Cullen Irons, ranked in the nation’s top 20 for kills per game average.

    Off the Block conducted an interview with McLaughlin earlier this week to discuss the chances of UC Santa Barbara making the postseason and possibility of making a run deep in the conference tournament.
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