Off the Block

Category: Division I-II

  • Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    Two of the three men’s volleyball conferences will have two of their top teams playing each other tonight.

    No. 1 USC finishing its weekend series against No. 2 BYU in the MPSF still highlights all the matches today. The other match, though, that is for sole possession of first place is in the Midwest as No. 4 Ohio State and No. 10 Loyola play with both teams vying to become the first team to go undefeated in MIVA play since 1998.

    Check out the top five men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight.
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  • Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    The men’s volleyball spotlight is once again focused brightly on Southern California tonight.

    No. 1 USC and No. 2 BYU opening their two-match weekend series in Los Angeles highlights tonight’s schedule. Not to be overlooked, though, are two other matches in Southern California tonight between teams in top 10 national rankings, including No. 3 Stanford playing No. 7 UC Irvine.

    Check out the top five men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight.
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  • Q&A with USC coach Bill Ferguson

    USC head coach Bill Ferguson could not have picked a better match to honor two former All-American Trojans.

    On the same night the Trojans will retire the jerseys of Dusty Dvorak and Celso Kalache, No. 1 USC will play the finale of its two-match weekend series against No. 2 BYU — the first time this season the top two teams in the nation rankings will face each other.

    Dvorak’s and Kalache’s jerseys will be retired in a post-match ceremony Saturday. Prior to this ceremony, the Trojans and Cougars will play the opener of their two-match series Friday night. USC enters this weekend series with the best record in the nation and has been No. 1 in the coaches and media poll since the preseason.

    Off the Block conducted an interview earlier this week with Ferguson to discuss his team’s success in the first half of the season and the upcoming match between No. 1 and No. 2.
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  • Q&A with BYU coach Rob Neilson

    For the first time this season the top two ranked teams will be across the net from each other.

    No. 2 BYU (13-4, 9-3 MPSF) will travel to play No. 1 USC (13-1, 13-1 MPSF) for a two-match series Friday and Saturday in Los Angeles. Both teams are in first and second place in the MPSF and have been the top ranked teams in the coaches poll and media poll for multiple weeks.

    In addition, the Cougars enter this weekend leading the nation with a 3.13 blocks per game average and have won nine of their last 10 conference matches.

    Off the Block conducted an interview earlier this week with BYU interim head coach Rob Neilson to discuss his team’s success in the first half of the season and the upcoming match between No. 1 and No. 2.
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  • What to know about recent No. 1 vs. No. 2 men’s volleyball matches

    Consider it the NCAA halfway championship match.

    The top two nationally ranked teams will play a two-match series this weekend in Los Angeles as USC and BYU remained No. 1 and No. 2 in the this week’s AVCA top 15 coaches poll and ASICS/Volleyball Magazine top 10 media poll.
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  • Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    It is not as big as No. 1 USC playing No. 2 BYU next weekend, but there is definitely an appeal to tonight’s men’s volleyball matches.

    All around the nation there is intrigue as two of the top five nationally ranked teams play each other in California, while No. 9 Penn State and George Mason meet in Virgina to play for sole possession of first place in the EIVA. In addition, off the court there is some intrigue on whether a MIVA coach will continue to bench his former All-American middle attacker.

    Check out the top five men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight.
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  • The top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    Rematch is the theme of tonight

    All of the top five nationally ranked men’s volleyball teams are in action tonight, with three of them playing teams who they have previously defeated this season. However, as this season has already proved sometimes the most difficult thing to do is defeat a team multiple times in the same year.

    Check out the top five men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight.
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  • The AVCA top 30 volleyball coaches less than 30 years old

    Three college men’s volleyball coaches were ranked among the 30 best volleyball coaches less than 30 years old.

    Lewis assistant coach Andy Cole, St. Ambrose University head coach Bill Gleeson and Wentworth Institute of Technology head coach Robert Mullowney were the only college men’s coaches selected to the American Volleyball Coaches Association annual list released Wednesday.
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  • Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    There is only one match between two top 10 ranked teams tonight, but as today has shown rankings are not needed for intrigue.

    No. 9 Penn State this afternoon survived in five games against Lees-McRae, which was attempting to be the first team from the Conference Carolinas to defeat a top 10 ranked team. In addition, one week ago all five of the top ranked lost, with four of them losing to teams outside of the top 10.

    Check out the top five men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight.
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  • No. 5 Ohio State vs. Ball State: postmatch press conferecne

    No. 5 Ohio State (10-2, 4-0 MIVA) remained undefeated in conference play as it swept Ball State (6-5, 1-2 MIVA) 25-16, 25-21, 28-26 on Friday at Worthen Arena.

    With this victory the Buckeyes extended their nation-best winning streak to 10 matches and will likely remain in the top five of next week’s national rankings. This was also the ninth consecutive match that Ball State has lost to Ohio State — the worst losing streak against the Buckeyes in Cardinals’ 47-year program history.

    Check out this postmatch press conference with Ball State coach Joel Walton as he discusses his team’s struggles in the match, some positives they can take from the loss and if this is the best Ohio State he has ever seen.
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