Penn State is heading back to Hawaii after a two-year hiatus from one of the biggest annual non-conference tournaments in college men’s volleyball.
The Nittany Lions along with releasing their entire 2018 schedule on Tuesday announced they will participate in the Outrigger Invitational. (more…)
St. Francis will once again return to the West Coast to start the season.
The Red Flash as part of releasing their 2018 schedule announced Friday that they will participate in the annual UC Santa Barbara Invitational during the opening weekend of the season. (more…)
George Mason will play two non-conference home matches against nationally ranked teams at an event that posthumously honors one of the best players in its program history.
The tournament field for the inaugural Uvaldo Acosta Invitational was unveiled earlier this week with George Mason playing host to Ball State and Pepperdine during the upcoming season. (more…)
George Mason more than 30 years after its first meeting versus Long Beach State will finally have a home match in the non-conference series.
George Mason coach Jay Hosack informed Off the Block on Monday that the two teams have agreed to play each other during the upcoming season on Feb. 10 in Fairfax, Virginia.
This will be the sixth all-time meeting between the Patriots and 49ers. Long Beach State after losing the initial meeting in 1984 has won the last five matches, including a home sweep against George Mason last season.
George Mason one-year removed from winning the EIVA championship and reaching the NCAA Tournament finished last season in sixth place in the EIVA. Among the starters returning for the Patriots, though, includes all-conference setter Brian Negron who spent the offseason training with the Puerto Rican Men’s National Team.
The defending MPSF champions Long Beach State enter the 2018 season as a member of the newly formed Big West men’s volleyball conference. The 49ers return three All-Americans from last season’s team that reached the NCAA Tournament semifinals — setter Josh Tuaniaga, opposite Kyle Ensing and outside attacker TJ DeFalco who was 2017 National Player of the Year.
Tuaniaga also guided the Long Beach State offense to out-hit George Mason .394 to negative-.149 in its non-conference victory last season.
This will be the fourth time since Hosack was hired as the team’s head coach after the 2015 season that the Patriots have played host to a West Coast school. George Mason in Hosack’s head coaching debut lost to UCLA and then later that season lost to UC Irvine in five games.
The match versus Long Beach State will be part of George Mason’s season-long eight-match home stand.
George Mason will open the home stand against Mount Olive on Jan. 19 before playing Pepperdine and Ball State the following week. It also will play the defending NCAA champions Ohio State on Feb. 3.
Erskine is heading back to New England for the first time since its inaugural season.
The ConfCarolinas school as part of unveiling its 2018 schedule during the weekend announced that it scheduled non-conference road matches against Princeton, NJIT and Sacred Heart. (more…)
Listen to Off the Block’s interview with Princeton coach Sam Shweisky as he discusses his team’s offseason, the expectations for the upcoming season and the chances of Princeton winning the EIVA to make the NCAA Tournament. (more…)
Two teams that won conference championships last season will play each other in the upcoming season — one just has a slightly greater historical pedigree.
The defending IVA champions Alderson Broaddus as part of unveiling its 2018 schedule announced that it will play Penn State in an early-season non-conference road match. (more…)
The preliminary roster has been whittled following a two-week training camp and the United States has its team for the upcoming FIVB U19 World Championship.
USA Volleyball announced during the weekend the 12-player U.S. team comprised of high school players and incoming college freshmen that will compete at the international tournament in Bahrain. (more…)
Coach Jay Hosack sought both high school players and transfers to compete his latest recruiting class.
George Mason announced earlier this week that transfers Jack Reese and Travis O’Gorman along with recent high school graduates Mike Kapusta and Justin Spiegel have committed to play for the Patriots beginning in 2018. (more…)
The largest non-conference event in the recent history of college men’s volleyball will have a full slate of matches for straight three days.
Off the Block announced on Saturday the match times for the inaugural Grow the Game Challenge. This non-conference tournament will feature 13 matches, including five matches that will be the first all-time meeting between the teams. (more…)