The top two AVCA-ranked teams, Long Beach State and Hawai’i, kept it rolling Friday.
In the biggest match of the evening, undefeated and top-ranked Long Beach State went to No. 3 UC Santa Barbara, completing the four-set win in dramatic style. Down 24-22, the Beach not only staved off a pair of set points but ran off four in a row to close out the match set 26-24. No. 2 Hawai’i kept pace with a sweep of CSUN, and Grand Canyon pulled off another upset, this time a 3-2 win over No. 14 George Mason.
Those recaps follow, but first, Saturday evening’s NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball schedule.
There’s only one match Saturday in the Big West as CSUN travels to Hawai’i. The MPSF has George Mason going to GCU, USC gets its chance to avenge last week’s loss to Concordia, Pepperdine takes on BYU, and UCLA goes to Stanford.
The MIVA has three non-conference matches as Quincy plays Lincoln Memorial, the EIVA’s Saint Francis takes on Purdue Fort Wayne, and Penn State of the EIVA goes to Ball State.
The Conference Carolinas has four matches as Belmont Abbey goes to King, Barton plays Emmanuel, Mount Olive meets Erskine, and Alderson Broaddus plays at Limestone.
Long Beach State (19-0, 4-0) defeated UC Santa Barbara (15-5, 2-2) in Robertson Gym 29-31, 31-29, 25-14, 26-24. The 49ers win was the second over the Gauchos in as many nights.
The Beach’s TJ DeFalco went off for 20 kills, a .410 percentage, two assists, an ace, 11 digs, and three blocks. Setter Josh Tuaniga not only set his team to a .426 percentage with 52 assists, but added three kills, an ace, eight digs and two blocks. Kyle Ensing, Simon Anderson, and Ethan Siegfried also reached double-digit kills with 13, 10 and 10 respectively.
Corey Chavers and Spencer Fredrick led the Gauchos with 16 kills apiece. Chavers also contributed four digs and three blocks, one solo, while Fredrick had two digs and two blocks.
Undefeated No. 2 Hawai’i (16-0, 3-0) took care of business at home in a 25-23, 25-16, 25-17 sweep of CSUN (10-9, 0-3). Hawai’i’s offense dominated, hitting .609 for the match to the Matador’s .276 as well as outblocking them nine to three.
Rado Parapunov led the Warriors with 12 kills and a .733 percentage. He also added an assist, two blocks, one solo, and three digs. Colton Cowell and Stijn van Tilburg both had nine kills, Patrick Gasman seven.
In MPSF action, Grand Canyon (11-11, 1-6) defeated No. 14 George Mason (12-6, 6-2) 20-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-18, 9-15 in Phoenix. The win is the Lopes’ third win over a ranked opponent this week, following wins over No. 9 Loyola (twice) and No. 10 USC. Grand Canyon is 7-2 in five-set matches. The teams’ statistics were remarkably similar, with both hitting .254. Mason held a 77.5 to 75.5 total edge in points. GCU scored 58 kills to 55 for the Patriots.
Grand Canyon’s balanced offense had four players in double-digit kills as Ian McLain had 13, Christian Janke 12, David Kisiel 11 and Alex Shmelev 10.
In the big MIVA showdown of the day, No. 7 Lewis (17-4, 8-0) extended its winning streak to 10 in a four-set 25-19, 23-25, 26-24, 25-19 win over No. 11 Loyola (13-7, 6-2). The loss is Loyola’s fourth straight.
The Flyer’s Julian Moses led the way with 16 kills, two assists, an ace, a block and four digs. Ryan Coenen followed with 13 kills, two assists, two aces, a block and eight digs.
Loyola’s Will Tischler led the match with 17 kills, a .310 percentage, two blocks and 10 digs.
McKendree (9-8, 6-4) swept Lindenwood (7-15, 3-5) 25-23, 25-19, 25-17 in an away MIVA contest. The Bearcats led the Lions in all statistical categories, outhitting them .384 to .157, outblocking them eight to 3.5 as well as tallying 40 digs to 22.
Jeremy Kirch led Lindenwood with 12 kills, an ace, three blocks and three digs. Zach Schnittker led McKendree with 11 kills and six digs.
Ohio State (7-14) swept Lees-McRae (2-14) easily 25-16, 25-14, 25-16, never trailing in any set. The Buckeyes were led by two first-time starters Shawn Hughes and Jamie Wolmering. Hughes paced the Buckeyes with nine kills, three aces and eight digs. Wolmering led OSU in hitting percentage (.833) and led the contest with three blocks.
Lees-McRae’s top attacker was Hector Serviat who had five kills but a negative .053 percentage.
King (11-8) topped Quincy (5-16) in a four-set non-conference match 25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 25-21. King’s Sean Kohlhase led the Tornado with 15 kills, an assist, an ace, three digs and two blocks. Joshua Kim scored 10 kills, an assist, two aces, six digs and four blocks, one solo.
Quincy’s Omari Wheeler led all attackers with 17 kills, six digs and a block.
Ball State (11-10) swept Saint Francis (11-9) in Worthen Arena 25-17, 25-18, 25-17. The Cardinals hit for .311 while the Red Flash hit only .011.
Ball State’s Matt Szews led his squad with nine kills, while Ben Chinnici had eight and David Siebum six. Saint Francis’ Michael Fisher scored nine kills, an ace and seven digs.
Purdue Fort Wayne (12-7) defeated Penn State of the EIVA 25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 25-23. The win is the Mastodon’s first win over the Nittany Lions since 2015.
Pelegrin Vargas’ line included 19 kills, a .357 percentage, seven digs, four blocks, three assists and two aces. Penn State’s Henrik Falck Lauten led with 13 kills, five blocks and four digs.
The EIVA’s NJIT (5-12, 1-7) swept Charleston (7-14, 1-8) 25-20, 25-18, 25-21 to earn its first EIVA conference win. The Highlanders controlled the net, hitting .309 to to .156 for the Eagles.
NJIT’s Jen Feldthus led the way with nine kills, two aces, three blocks and three digs. Charleston’s Max Senica also led his team with nine digs, two assists, an ace and six digs.
In the Conference Carolinas, Emmanuel (8-14, 3-7) defeated Mount Olive (6-11, 5-4) in a tough five-setter 22-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16, 15-13.
Barton (13-3, 8-1) won its seventh straight with a sweep of Erskine (5-14, 3-7) 25-22, 25-9, 25-21.
North Greenville (14-7) set a new program record with its 14th win of the season, a 25-18, 25-17, 25-19 sweep of Queens (4-16).
Limestone (8-7) won its fourth straight match over Coker (5-11) 25-18, 25-20, 25-22.
