Throwback Thursday: A look inside the college men’s volleyball vault

More than 40 seasons of college men’s volleyball has resulted in numerous memorable and interesting moments.

Off the Block on the final Thursday of each month during the college men’s volleyball regular season will showcase several match highlights and stories from the past in an effort to help preserve the sport’s history.

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UC Irvine associate AD added to NCAA Tourney selection committee

The deputy athletics director from UC Irvine will join the committee that determines the field for the men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament.

UC Irvine senior associate athletics director Paula Smith was selected as the West Coast representative for the three-person NCAA men’s volleyball committee.

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Top 10 bold predictions for 2014 college men’s volleyball season

There’s always some safe preseason predictions to make every year — and than there’s the crazy, bold ones.

With the college men’s volleyball season less than two weeks away from starting, Off the Block is making its bold predictions on everything from conference championship races to what will happen in the NCAA championship match.

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Top 10 college men’s volleyball storylines from the off-season

A lot has happened in college men’s volleyball since UC Irvine won the NCAA championship in May.

The 2013 off-season has seen everything from major shake-ups to the NCAA Tournament and conference alignments to big non-conference matches being scheduled and new national awards added for the upcoming season. Check out the top 10 college men’s volleyball shorelines from the off-season.
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EIVA, Conference Carolinas champions to meet in 2014 NCAA play-in match

The pairings for the inaugural NCAA men’s volleyball play-in match in 2014 is set.

NCAA committee member Ron Shayka confirmed to Off the Block via email Monday that the 2014 conference champions from the EIVA and Conference Carolinas will play each other for the final spot in the four-team NCAA Tournament.
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Committee chairman: NCAA Tourney play-in match won’t affect MPSF

Don’t expect any MPSF teams to play in the soon-to-be created men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament play-in match any time in the upcoming seasons.

NCAA men’s volleyball committee chairman Brian Santiago said at the recent MPSF league meeting that the new play-in match featuring two conference champions “will not directly impact MPSF teams,” according to the minutes released from the meeting.
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Q&A with NCAA Tourney selection committee member Ron Shayka

It’s a busy time for the men’s volleyball NCAA committee members with Selection Sunday fast approaching.

Off the Block conducted an interview earlier this week with Ron Shayka, one of the three members on the selection committee that will decide the NCAA Tournament field. Shayka along with a committee member is the EIVA President and an assistant athletics director at George Mason.

Check out the interview below to get an inside look at the selection process, the selection committee and the growth of the EIVA.
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Deeper look at men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament selection criteria

The conference tournament championship matches are set and Final Four picture is slowly starting to become clearer – but not by much.

With Selection Sunday looming, UC Irvine and Stanford’s victories in the MPSF Tournaments have given them a leg-up in the race to get a spot in the NCAA Tournament. However, a closer look at the criteria used by the selection committee shows nothing in the field is decided going into championship Saturday.
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Deeper look at men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament selection criteria

Best of luck to the three-person NCAA Tournament selection committee trying to figure out this year’s field — it’s that close.

With the regular season over and the conference tournaments about to start, the race for the lone at-large bid and seeding for the NCAA Tournament remains tight among the nation’s top teams. In addition, a closer look at the criteria used by the selection committee shows because of the close race the conference tournament matches could have an increased significance in determining this year’s at-large bid.
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