BYU - Off the Block

March 3, 2011September 19, 2011

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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March 3, 2011September 19, 2011

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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March 1, 2011August 13, 2014

My men’s volleyball media poll ballot

Sometimes change is not needed.

With no upsets and all the top 10 ranked teams winning matches, it made my job as a voter easy this week. For the first time in my three years of voting in the men’s volleyball media poll, I have submitted identical top 10 ballot on back-to-back weeks.
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February 25, 2011September 19, 2011

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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February 23, 2011August 13, 2014

My men’s volleyball media poll ballot

What a difference a year makes deciding who is No. 1 in the rankings.

For most of last season there was a revolving door at the No. 1 spot with three teams having the top ranking by late February. However, this season USC has maintained the No. 1 spot since the preseason and is receiving all but one first-place vote in the coaches and media poll for the second consecutive week.
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February 19, 2011September 19, 2011

Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

After two weeks of teams primarily playing non-conference matches, the conference season has returned in full force this weekend.

Already two of the top five teams have lost this week and three more of the top-five teams have conference matches tonight. In addition, tonight features No. 5 Ohio State and Ball State renewing the oldest Midwest men’s volleyball rivalry and two conference leaders playing each other in one of the few non-conference matches.

Check out the top five men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight.
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February 16, 2011August 13, 2014

My men’s volleyball media poll ballot

Everyone in the top five of the national rankings picked a good week to lose.

For the first time in NCAA men’s volleyball history, all five of the top ranked teams Friday lost on a single night. It was one of the biggest oddities in my time covering men’s volleyball and created an interesting situation for this week’s poll.
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February 12, 2011September 19, 2011

Top 5 matches to follow tonight

A day after one of the most historical nights of upsets in NCAA men’s volleyball history that featured all five top ranked teams losing, Saturday’s lineup is almost just as intriguing.

Everything from conference rivalries to teams in dire need to pick up a victory highlights tonight’s schedule.

Check out the top five matches to follow tonight as this chaotic weekend in men’s volleyball begins to wind down.
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February 12, 2011September 19, 2011

Scraping the wreckage of a historical upset Friday

The oddity of Friday night may be a first in the 41-year history of NCAA men’s volleyball.

All of the top five ranked teams in the ASICS/Volleyball Magazine Men’s Division I-II Media Poll — No. 1 USC, No. 2 Long Beach State, No. 3 BYU, No. 4 Stanford and No. 5 UCLA — lost Friday.

With a majority of the top 10 nationally ranked teams being in the MPSF, it is not unusual for one or two of the top five teams to lose a match during a weekend. However, I can never recall or find another incense when all five of the top ranked teams lost in a single day.
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February 9, 2011October 1, 2011

My men’s volleyball media poll ballot

There isn’t a whole lot of question about who are the top four teams. USC, Stanford, BYU and Long Beach State have clearly established themselves as the four best teams in the nation during the first month of the season.

However, the question who are the other six teams remains unsettled.

Some teams such as a Ohio State have shown significant improvement since the start of the season, while teams like UCLA have struggled in recent weeks. These streaks continue to create a fluid voting ballot with the final few slots every week in the ballot feeling like a revolving door of teams.

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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