Off the Block

Tag: Ohio State

  • 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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  • Q&A with Ohio State coach Pete Hanson

    There is a legitimate national championship contender at Ohio State, besides the teams on the football field and basketball court.

    After losing its first two matches of the season, the No. 5 Ohio State men’s volleyball team (9-2, 3-0 MIVA) has won its last nine matches, including victories against No. 8 UC Irvine, No. 9 Penn State and Cal State Northridge in the last two weeks. In addition, the Buckeyes are in first place in the MIVA and received a first-place vote in both the coaches and media polls this week.

    Off the Block conducted an interview earlier this week with Ohio State coach Pete Hanson to discuss his team’s recent success and the possibility of this being a national championship team.
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  • 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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  • 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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  • 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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  • Top 5 men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    It’s not often that MPSF schools travel outside the West Coast.

    However, this weekend four MPSF schools have traveled to the Midwest and East Coast to play in non-conference matches against EIVA and MIVA teams. This is by far the best non-conference weekend of the season with matches ranging from three nationally ranked teams meeting up in University Park, Pa., to No. 4 Stanford playing Loyola in the dreadful Alumni Gym where numerous road teams have struggled in recent years.

    Check out the top five men’s volleyball matches you need to follow tonight.
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  • My men’s volleyball media poll ballot

    There are some weeks when you wish your ballot was larger to include more teams, and than there are some weeks like this one when you just can’t seem to find 10 teams who deserve to be in the top 10.

    The top teams in the nation have quickly emerged. USC is unanimously the best team in the country both on the court and in the media and coaches polls. In addition, Long Beach State, Stanford, BYU and UCLA have separated themselves as top tier teams in the MPSF, while Penn State remains the best team east of the Mississippi River.

    Everyone else still has a lot left to prove to be considered an elite team this season.
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  • My men’s volleyball media poll ballot

    Well it took a bunch of hours going over box scores, game articles and videos, but I finally have my first ballot of the year for the ASICS/Volleyball Magazine Men’s Division I-II Media Poll.

    The first few weeks are always a little bit difficult to rank because you are still balancing preseason expectations with how the team is actually playing and who it has beat. Some teams like USC and Stanford have lived up to the preseason hype setting themselves above everyone else. While other teams like UC Irvine and Hawai’i are beginning to play well after horrific starts.

    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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