Men’s volleyball: Chilly Austin host to Hawai’i, Stanford, Queens, FDU; EIVA begins conference play
NCAA Men
Lee Feinswog
February 4, 2022
Greetings from Austin, Texas, where the first puck drops — oh, wait — the first serve is at 11:30 a.m. Central Friday between top-ranked Hawai’i of the Big West and independent Fairleigh Dickinson. You could certainly think there was going to be a hockey game here because the temperature at 8 a.m. Friday was an uncharacteristic 23 degrees.
Yes, this area is frozen over, largely because of rain that hit as the temps dropped Wednesday night and into Thursday, and it has hampered travel within and to the capital city, where the first NCAA men’s volleyball tournament in Texas will take place in the Austin Convention Center.
Later Friday, No. 14 Stanford of the MPSF plays FDU, and then Hawai’i plays independent Queens. At 3 p.m. Saturday FDU plays Queens and then Hawai’i plays Stanford. All the matches will be streamed by Athletes Go Live. Click here for more.
The coinciding Southwest Boys Classic and girls Lone Star Classic tournaments are also inside the convention center.Â
Justin Lui goes all out for a ball when Stanford played UC Irvine last month/Karen Hickey, Stanford Athletics
The EIVA has the nation’s first conference matches when No. 5 Penn State plays Princeton, George Mason plays Saint Francis (PA), and St. Francis Brooklyn plays Charleston. Also, NJIT plays independent LIU.
Four other Big West teams besides Hawai’i are in action Friday when No. 13 UC San Diego plays the MPSF’s Concordia, No. 11 UC Santa Barbara plays second-ranked Pepperdine of the MPSF, No. 3 Long Beach State plays No. 7 USC of the MPSF, No. 15 UC Irvine plays No. 4 UCLA of the MPSF, and CSUN plays UC Merced.
Also in the MPSF, No. 8 Grand Canyon plays the MIVA’s Loyola, and No. 9 BYU plays No. 10 Ball State of the MIVA.
Other MIVA teams in action include No. 6 Lewis, playing the SIAC’s Central State, Purdue Fort Wayne playing the EIVA’s Sacred Heart, Quincy facing GrandView, and McKendree playing Maryville. Ohio State’s match with Mount Olive of Conference Carolinas was canceled.
The Conference Carolinas slate shows Belmont Abbey playing Benedict,North Greenville playing the SIAC’s Fort Valley State, Erskine facing independent Lincoln Memorial, and King playing Limestone.Â
Thursday, Lees-McRae of Conference Carolinas (3-1) beat Edward Waters of the SIAC (1-7) in four and LIU (3-5) beat Alvernia (2-3). Michael Marsans of Lees-McRae had a career-high 25 kills with five errors in 48 attacks to hit .417 and went with an ace, five digs, and two blocks.
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