Off the Block

Tag: Penn State

  • 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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  • Conference tournament men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

    From coast to coast the men’s volleyball conference tournaments are in full swing tonight.

    Penn State on the East Coast looks to move one win closer to clinching its 13th consecutive EIVA title and a spot in the Final Four. In addition, the two Cinderellas of the West Coast, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara, play with a chance to advance to the MPSF Tournament championship match.

    The winners of these semifinals matches tonight will play in their conference tournament championship match Saturday.

    Check out the conference tournament matches to follow tonight.
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  • Winners announced for EIVA, MIVA, MPSF Reporters of the Year

    The Daily Trojan reporter Sean McCormick, The Daily Collegian reporter Joe McIntyre and The Ball State Daily News reporter Andrew Mishler were selected as the Off the Block Men’s Volleyball Conference Reporters of the Year.

    The Off the Block Men’s Volleyball Conference Reporters of the Year recognizes the best college newspaper reporters in the EIVA, MIVA and MPSF.
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  • Winner, finalists announced for Best Men’s Volleyball Online Coverage of the Year

    The Daily Collegian is the inaugural winner of the Off the Block Best Men’s Volleyball Online Coverage of the Year.

    Off the Block conducted a season-long analysis of the online coverage for college men’s volleyball on professional and college newspaper websites from around the nation.
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  • Men’s volleyball bracketology

    With conference tournaments underway and the men’s volleyball Final Four weeks away, Off the Block will continue its weekly projected NCAA Tournament bracket.

    The men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament is comprised of four teams. Automatic bids are awarded to the winners of the EIVA, MIVA and MPSF conference tournaments, and the NCAA Men’s Volleyball National Committee chooses one team for an at-large bid.
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  • Deeper look at NCAA Tourney selection criteria after conference quarterfinals

    Stanford and BYU losing in the MPSF Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday may appear to open the door for another team to get the at-large bid, but a deeper look at the NCAA selection committee criteria says otherwise.

    Below is the entry from the 2011 NCAA men’s volleyball championship handbook on how the three-person volleyball selection committee determines the at-large team and seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
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  • 2011 All-EIVA teams released

    For the fourth consecutive season, a Penn State men’s volleyball player was the named the EIVA Player of the Year.

    Outside attacker Joe Sunder was named the Uvaldo Acosta EIVA Player of the Year on Thursday after leading the conference and being third in the nation with a 4.63 kills per game average.

    Sunder was also one of six Penn State players named an All-EIVA team, which were released along with the player of the year award.
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  • Penn State coach Pavlik says NCAA Tournament expansion would be good thing

    NCAA Tournament expansion would happen if it was up to one national award winning coach.

    Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said earlier this week that he would like for the men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament to expand from four to eight teams in the upcoming seasons.

    “I think that we have enough good teams that it wouldn’t harm the integrity of the NCAA championship,” Pavlik said at his weekly news conference Monday. “I think overall you’d see some surprises in an eight-team tournament.”
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  • My men’s volleyball media poll ballot

    Who is No. 1 never came into question this season.

    USC remained No. 1 the final regular season top 10 men’s volleyball media poll released Tuesday to become the first team since UCLA in 1995 to stay in the top spot in the polls from the preseason to end of the regular season.

    Outside of No. 1, four teams moved spots in this week’s media poll. Long Beach State and Ohio State both moved up two spots to No. 6 and No. 7 after picking up wins last week, while UC Santa Barbara dropped three spots to No. 9 follow two losses to close the season.
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  • Men’s volleyball bracketology

    With conference tournaments about to begin and the men’s volleyball Final Four weeks away, Off the Block will continue its weekly projected NCAA Tournament bracket.

    The men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament is comprised of four teams. Automatic bids are awarded to the winners of the EIVA, MIVA and MPSF conference tournaments, and the NCAA Men’s Volleyball National Committee chooses one team for an at-large bid.
    (more…)