Off the Block

Tag: BYU

  • U.S. Men’s Junior National Team roster announced for 2011 World Championship

    Fifteen current college men’s volleyball players will play for the United States in the World Championship.

    USA Volleyball announced Monday its U.S. Men’s Junior National Team 12-player roster and seven alternates for the 2011 FIVB Men’s Junior (U-21) World Championship in Brazil.

    “Most of our players have played a major role on their collegiate teams and that experience should carry over quite well for us,” head coach John Hawks said in statement released Monday. “I feel like we are not going to be physically outmatched by anyone. This year’s team has tremendous depth and we can start a wide variety of lineups and still maintain a high level of cohesion on the court.”
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  • AVCA releases 2011 high school boy’s volleyball All-American team

    Twenty incoming freshmen were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association High School Senior All-American Team on Wednesday.

    UC Irvine, Loyola and Pepperdine led all teams with two players selected as a First-Team All-American. Cal State Northridge also had a First-Team and Second-Team All-American selection, while UC San Diego had two players named Second-Team All-Americans.

    USC, Ohio State, Lewis, BYU, Juniata and Princeton each had one incoming recruit selected as an All-American.
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  • Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year: Round 3

    Off the Block created the bracket and seeded 64 of the best Division I-II men’s volleyball players. Now it’s up to you determine who should be the Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year.

    After the first and second round, 16 players remain in the only national player of the year award that is completely determined by the fans.

    The online voting for the eight second-round matches will end at 11 p.m. Friday. The winners will advance to the regional finals Saturday.

    Check out the third-round online ballots below and vote for the players who you think should move to the next round.
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  • Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year: Round 2

    Off the Block created the bracket and seeded 64 of the best college men’s volleyball players. Now it’s up to you determine who should be the Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year.

    After the first round, 32 players remain in the only national player of the year award that is completely determined by the fans.

    The online voting for the 16 second-round matches will end at 11 p.m. Thursday. The winners will advance to the third round Friday.

    Check out the second-round online ballots below and vote for the players who you think should move to the next round.

    [Editor’s note: The poll results for the second round matches Murphy Troy vs. Joshua Walker and Joe Sander vs. Jay Petty are not appearing for some people when viewing this page. Walker defeated Troy 147-132 and Sander defeated Petty 144-37.]

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  • Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year: Round 1

    Off the Block created the bracket and seeded 64 of the best college men’s volleyball players. Now it’s up to you determine who should be the Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year.

    The Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year tournament is the only contest that allows the fans to completely determine who should be the national player of the year.

    The online voting for the 32 first-round matches will end at 11 p.m. Wednesday. The winners will advance to the second round Thursday.

    Check out the first-round online ballots below and vote for the players who you think should move to the next round.

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  • Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year tournament to begin Wednesday

    The Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year will begin Wednesday, giving fans from around the nation the opportunity to determine the best college men’s volleyball player during the 2011 season.

    Off the Block has created a six-round 64-player bracket tournament matching up the best men’s volleyball players. Now it’s up to the fans through online voting to determine who should be the winner of each match-up.

    Every round will last one day with the polls closing at 11 p.m. (EST). The player with the most votes when the polls close will advance to the next round.
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  • My men’s volleyball media poll ballot

    There will not be any type of split national champion in men’s volleyball this season.

    Ohio State received every first-place vote to be ranked No. 1 in the final men’s volleyball media poll released Tuesday.

    Ohio State defeated UC Santa Barbara in five games in the NCAA championship match to become first MIVA team to win a national title in the 42 years of the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes jumped up six spots to No. 1 from the last media poll that was released at the end of the regular season.

    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.
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  • Deeper look at NCAA Tourney selection criteria after conference championships

    UC Santa Barbara has not only crashed the Final Four, it has changed the landscape the entire equation into deciding the NCAA Tournament.

    With the No. 7 seed UC Santa Barbara defeating No. 1 USC to win the MPSF Tournament and receive the conference’s automatic bid, it took away a spot in the NCAA Tournament from another team.

    While USC will now without a doubt receive the lone at-large bid to the tournament, it may seem like UC Santa Barbara conference tournament success means it should be higher than a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, a closer look at the NCAA selection committee criteria says otherwise.
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  • Deeper look at NCAA Tourney selection criteria after conference semifinals

    Stanford and BYU can breath a sigh of relief.

    With No. 1 USC defeating No. 4 UC Irvine to advance to the MPSF Tournament championship match on Thursday it means the lone at-large spot to the NCAA Tournament remains open.

    Both BYU and Stanford losing in the first round of the conference tournament appeared to open the at-large bid to teams like UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara. However, a closer look at the NCAA selection committee criteria says otherwise.
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  • AVCA releases 2011 men’s volleyball All-American teams

    The American Volleyball Coaches Association announced its men’s volleyball Division I-II All-American teams on Thursday.

    USC led all teams with three All-American selections — two First-Team All-Americans and a Second-Team All-American.

    The Trojans became the first team in 16 years to be ranked No. 1 from the preseason through the end of the regular season. All six of its starters also received all-conference accolades last week.

    Along with USC, Penn State and BYU had three All-American selections. The Nittany Lions and Cougars both had a First-Team All-American and two Second-Team All-Americans.

    UC Santa Barbara, Stanford and UC Irvine all had two players named All-Americans.

    A voting committee comprised of nine men’s volleyball coaches selected the All-American teams. The committee included Penn State coach Mark Pavlik, George Mason coach Fred Chao, Loyola coach Shane Davis, USC coach Bill Ferguson, Lewis coach Dan Friend, Stanford coach John Kotsy, UC Santa Barbara coach UC Santa Barbara, St. Francis coach Mike Rumbaugh and Ball State coach Joel Walton.

    Check out the players who received All-American honors this year.
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