The crowd in Provo got its money’s worth Thursday night as No. 9 BYU beat visiting No. 8 Stanford 21-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-23, 17-15 in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball.
Things really heat up around the country Friday.
All eyes will be on the Big West on Friday as top-ranked and unbeaten Long Beach is back in action when it plays host to No. 11 CSUN, while No. 2 Hawai’i is at No. 3 UC Irvine in a huge match for both teams. And No. 5 UC Santa Barbara is home for UC San Diego.
There’s a showcase match in Chicago when the top two teams in the MIVA square off. Seven-ranked Loyola plays host to No. 10 Lewis. Both teams are 6-0 and hold a two-game lead in the loss column over idle Purdue Fort Wayne.
Also in the MIVA, No. 15 Ball State is home for Lindenwood and McKendree goes to Ohio State.
There is one MPSF match on tap when No. 6 UCLA goes to Grand Canyon.
The EIVA slate is full.
The league’s only ranked team, No. 14 George Mason, plays host to Sacred Heart. League-leader Princeton goes to Penn State, which stands a game back in second place, NJIT is at Saint Francis and Harvard goes to Charleston.
There are four matches involving Conference Carolinas, but only one in the league when Barton goes to Belmont Abbey. Also, King is home for Queens in what sounds more like a chess match, Emmanuel goes to Coker and Lees-McRae plays host to Alderson Broaddus.
Our daily VolleyballMag.com TV listings will get you links to any broadcasts or streams for all those matches.
BYU, USC win: BYU (11-6, 5-3 MPSF) got 22 kills from Davide Gardini, who hit .515, had an ace, a dig and two blocks. Gabi Garcia Fernandez had 13 kills, an assist, two of BYU’s seven aces, six digs and four blocks. Storm Fa’agata-Tufug, Felipe de Brito Ferreira and Miki Jauhainen had seven kills each. Jauhainen added five blocks. Setter Will Stanley had 54 assists, a kill, an ace, four digs and two blocks.
“I thought we did a good job overall,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said. “The defensive effort from the start was kind of slow on both sides. In the end, the guys found a way to win. To be able to rebound, find a way to win and continue battling is what it comes down to.”
Kyler Presho led Stanford’s balance attack with 14 kills, hitting .650 after having just one error in 20 swings. Stanford hit .365, while BYU finished at .310.
Presho added an ace, a dig and three blocks. Jaylen Jasper and Jordan Ewert had 13 kills apiece and Eli Wopat had 11. Setter Paul Bischoff added two kills, 50 assists, six dig and three blocks.
USC (8-7, 2-3) had to go five to get out of Concordia (5-13, 1-5) with a 5-21, 23-25, 23-25, 25-15, 15-13Â victory. Ryan Moss led the No. 13 Trojans with 23 kills and nine digs. Moss, who hit .340, had an ace and two blocks. Gianluca Grasso had 21 kills, hit .333, and had an ace, two assists, eight digs and three blocks.
USC, which hit .350, broke out of a 6-6 tie in the fifth with three points in a row.
Zachary Meyer had 14 kills, an assist, an ace, eight digs and a block to lead Concordia, while Luke Krzmarzick added 12, two aces, five digs and two blocks.
In a non-conference match, Conference Carolinas’ North Greenville (11-6) beat Coker (4-8) in four. Jackson Gilbert had 14 kills for North Greenville.
