On a most eventful Saturday in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball, three of the five conferences that get automatic NCAA tournament bids saw their regular-season titles clinched, and in the one that is still undecided, No. 10 UC San Diego upset No. 2 Long Beach State, beating its Big West opponent for the first time in 10 years.Â
Top-ranked UCLA, which is also the host for the NCAA Tournament, wrapped up first place in the MPSF with a sweep of No. 8 Pepperdine and will be the home for team for the league tournament.
In the MIVA, No. 11 Loyola Chicago got swept by Ohio State and then No. 7 Ball State topped Purdue Fort Wayne to take that conference’s crown.
In Conference Carolinas, North Greenville beat Emmanuel, while Mount Olive lost to King, giving North Greenville its first conference title and coach Dr. Fred Battenfield his 100th victory at the school.
Penn State, which wrapped up the title a week earlier, won its 18th match in a row by sweeping NJIT to finish the EIVA regular season 15-0.
And a nod to the winless: Barton of Conference Carolinas finished the regular season 0-19, 0-14 in the league, and Morehouse, a first-year member of the first-year SIAC, is 0-16, 0-12. The good news? Both those teams get another chance in their respective conference tournaments.Â
MPSF
UCLA is 19-3, 9-1 in the conference, with two matches left. No. 9 Grand Canyon (16-9, 6-4) and No. 5 USC (19-6, 6-4) are tied for second. Pepperdine (14-9, 5-5) is fourth, followed by No. 12 Stanford (12-11, 4-6), BYU (8-14, 3-7) and Concordia (10-14, 3-9). The conference tournament is April 21-23 at UCLA.
Saturday, UCLA hit .452 and beat Pepperdine 25-23, 25-19, 25-19 for its seventh win in a row, its longest streak since 2018. UCLA got 11 kills from Kevin Kobrine, who hit .562 and had an ace, 10 digs and two blocks. Merrick McHenry had 10 kills with no errors in 13 attacks, an assist, a dig and four blocks. Miles Partain had four kills, 35 assists, an ace, five digs and four blocks. The Bruins had three aces and 15 errors. Pepperdine hit .183 and had four aces and 11 errors. Jaylen Jasper had 13 kills, two aces, two blocks and a dig …Â
USC won 25-23, 25-19, 25-19 at Concordia behind 16 kills by Sam Kobrine, 13 by Simon Gallas and 11 from Brandon Browning. Lucas Frassrand had seven kills with one error in eight attacks and Liam Schroeder had six kills with one error in eight attacks. Chris Hall had two kills, 45 assists, two aces and 14 digs. His team hit .349 and had six aces and 15 errors. CUI hit .231 and had five aces and seven errors. Owen Chun led with 10 kills, six digs and four blocks, one solo. Gil Herold had four kills with no errors in eight attacks and eight blocks, one solo …Â
And how about this scoreline: Will Rottman had 32 kills as Stanford pulled off the reverse sweep and beat visiting BYU 19-25, 25-27, 25-23, 25-20, 24-22. According to Stanford, it tied for the third longest fifth set in MPSF history. Rottman, who had 18 kills the day before against BYU, got his 32 kills on 69 swings with five errors to hit .391. He had nine kills in the fifth set. He had two assists, a block and five digs. Luke Turner had 11 kills, 10 digs and five blocks, one solo. Nathaniel Gates had nine kills with no errors in 13 attacks, four blocks and six digs. Nathan Lietzke had a kill, a career-high 58 assists, two aces, a block and 12 digs. His team hit .327 and had two aces and 25 errors. BYU’s Davide Gardini had 27 kills, hit .357, and had two assists, three aces, two blocks and 16 digs. Miks Ramanis had 15 kills, an assist, no aces and six errors, three blocks and five digs. Kupono Browne had 12 kills, two assists, four blocks and nine digs. Michael Worthington had 13 digs and two assists, and Noa Haine had two kills, 58 assists, four blocks and nine digs. His team hit .316 and had four aces and 20 errors.
UC Irvine’s new Taraflex “Court 21”
Big West
Despite the loss, Long Beach State (17-4, 6-2) holds a one-game lead over Hawai’i (20-5, 5-3). Fifth-ranked UC Santa Barbara (16-8, 5-4) and UCSD (13-9, 5-4) are a game back, followed by No. 14 UC Irvine (10-13, 3-5) and CSUN (6-13, 1-7).
Long Beach State plays a home-and-home with CSUN on Friday and Saturday, Hawai’i goes to UC Irvine, and UCSB plays at Concordia of the MPSF on Thursday before finishing up at UCSD on Saturday.
The Big West Tournament is April 21-23 at Hawai’i.
UCSD beat visiting Long Beach 16-25, 25-19, 25-20, 21-25, 15-12. The last time the Tritons beat Long Beach was in 2012. UCSD hit .331 and had seven aces, five by Kyle McCauley, and 15 errors. McCauley led with 17 kills, four assists, three blocks and six digs. Ryan Ka had 14 kills, an assist, an ace, a block and six digs. Shane Benetz had 12 kills, hit .556, and had an assist, four digs and eight blocks, three solo. Blake Crisp had two kills in as many tries, 38 assists, an ace and nine digs. Long Beach hit .276 and had 11 aces and 12 errors. Alex Nikolov, the probable national player of the year, had 17 kills, hit .324, six aces, four blocks and eight digs. Spencer Olivier had 16 kills, an assist, five digs and four blocks, one solo. Clarke Godbold had 11 kills and four blocks. Aidan Knipe had two kills, 47 assists, an ace, two blocks and seven digs …Â
Hawai’i had to go the distance to beat visiting UC Santa Barbara 19-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-18, 15-10 before the biggest crowd of the season, 6,744. The Greeks led again as Dimitrios Mouchlias and Spryos Chakas had 17 kills apiece. Mouchlias hit .350 and had three aces, four blocks and four digs. Chakas hit .438 and had an assist, two aces and six digs. Guilherme Voss had 12 kills, hit .417, and had two assists, four blocks and a dig. Brett Sheward had 12 digs and five assist. The Rainbow Warriors hit .387 and had seven aces and 12 errors. Haotian Xia led UCSB with 21 kills as he hit .447 and had an assist, six aces, two blocks and three digs. Ryan Wilcox had 15 kills, an assist, two aces and 10 digs. Dayne Chalmers had 13 kills, hit .333, and had three assist, a block and 14 digs. Patrick Paragas had a kill, 54 assists, a bloc and 11 digs. UCSB hit .315 and had nine aces and 14 errors …
On a special night in Irvine, UCI beat visiting CSUN 25-14, 25-23, 28-26 as the school unveiled “Court 21.” It’s a tribute to Tim Vorenkamp, who signed with UC Irvine in the class of 2015. Vorenkamp was 13 when he was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, an exceptionally rare form of cancer. He had countless chemotherapy and radiation sessions and relapses but continued to play volleyball. He wore number 21. He died on January 10, 2016, in what would have been his freshman year. UCI is one of only six men’s programs with a Taraflex court, the official flooring of the NCAA Championships and Olympics.
Against CSUN, UCI hit a season-high .395 and had five aces and 11 errors. Francesco Sani led with 14 kills, hitting .435, and had two aces, two blocks and four digs. CSUN hit .170 and had three aces and 12 digs. Daniel Wetter had 15 kills with one error in 21 attacks and two blocks.
MIVA
The championship bracket is set. Ball State (20-3, 12-2) got the No. 1 seed and will play Quincy (4-18, 0-14). Loyola (17-8, 11-3) is No. 2 and plays Lindenwood (8-13, 4-10). The No. 3 seed is 15th-ranked McKendree (14-10, 9-5), which plays Purdue Fort Wayne (15-12, 6-8). Lewis (15-11, 7-7), ranked No. 11, got the fourth seed and will play No. 5-seeded Ohio State (13-13, 7-7), which has the longest winning streak in the conference, three games. The quarterfinals are Saturday and the higher seeds host.
Ball State and Loyola headed into Saturday tied for the lead. But Ohio State won 25-17, 25-17, 25-21 at Loyola. Jacob Pasteur led with 16 kills and hit .448 to go with three aces and nine digs. Samuel Clark had 15 kills, hit .407, and had an assist, an ace and six digs. Martin Lallemand had 13 kills, hit .458 and had an assist, an ace, a solo block and six digs. Ohio State hit .412 an dhad six aces and 11 errors. Loyola, which hit .275 and had no aces and nine errors, got eight kills each from Cole Schlothauer and Parker Van Buren. Schlothauer had no errors in 18 attacks and six digs. Van Buren had four blocks and two digs …
Later, Ball State won 33-31, 19-25, 25-22, 29-27 at Purdue Fort Wayne to clinch. The Cardinals hit .275 and had five aces and 20 errors. Kaleb Jenness led with 21 kills and hit .391 after having three errors in 46 attacks. He had four blocks and six digs. Angelos Mandilaris had 15 kills, four aces, three blocks and six digs. Vanis Buckholz had seven kills with one error in 11 attacks and four blocks. Quinn Isaacson had 46 assists, five blocks and 11 digs. PFW, which hit .277 and had three aces and 20 errors, got 25 kills from Jon Diedrich. He added an assist, a block and eight digs. Troy Gooch had a career-high 20 digs and three assists …Â
Lewis beat visiting Lindenwood 25-23, 20-25, 29-27, 25-21. The Flyers hit .250 and had six aces and 14 errors. Christian Prayer, who had three of those aces, led with 16 kills as he hit .321 and had a blok and six digs. Lindenwood hit .275 and had 11 aces and 23 errors. AJ Lew had 18 kills, hit .308, and had three aces and 10 errors, three blocks and four digs …Â
McKendree beat visiting Quincy 25-19, 25-19, 25-21. The Bearcats hit .329 and had six aces and 16 errors. Ethan Carroll had 10 kills, three aces, four blocks and five digs. Patrick Ross had nine kills with one error in 18 attacks. Quincy hit .088 and had three aces and seven errors. Raje Alleyne had 10 kills.
EIVAÂ
Penn State (22-3, 15-0) has run away from the pack. NJIT (13-10, 8-6), Princeton (10-12, 8-6) and Harvard (10-12, 8-6) are tied for second. Saint Francis (PA) is a game back in the loss column at 15-11, 8-7, followed by George Mason (13-12, 7-7), Charleston (8-13, 4-10), St. Francis Brooklyn (10-13, 4-10) and Sacred Heart (10-15, 2-12).
Saturday, Penn State beat visiting NJIT 25-23, 25-19, 25-21 for its 18th consecutive win, the longest streak for the program since 2008 when Penn State went 30-1 and won the national championship. The Nittany Lions hit .346 and had seven aces and 16 errors. Cal Fisher, who hit .321 and had an assist, four aces, a block and a dig, and Toby Ezeonu had 12 kills each. Ezeonu had one error in 15 attacks and six blocks, one solo. Cole Bogner had three kills in four errorless attacks, 32 assists, an ace, two blocks and four digs. Alessandro Negri had 11 kills and hit .381 to go with an assist, three blocks and eight digs for NJIT, which hit .267 and had two aces and 14 errors …Â
In the battle of Francises, Saint Francis (PA) swept visiting St. Francis Brooklyn 25-17, 34-32, 25-18. The winning Francis hit .319 and had seven aces and 24 errors. Nathan Zini led with 18 kills, hit .469, and had three aces, a block and five digs. The losing Francis hit .076 and had two aces and 14 errors …Â
Princeton beat Mason 25-16, 25-21, 25-19 as the Tigers hit .375 and had eight aces and 12 errors. Ben Harrington led with 11 kills with one error in 14 attacks to go with four aces, two digs and four blocks, one solo. Brady Wedbush had seven kills with one error in nine attacks, three aces and nine blocks, one solo. Mason hit .155 and had three aces and 10 errors …Â
Charleston won 17-25, 25-22, 26-24, 13-25, 15-11 at Harvard. Charleston hit .257 and had four aces and 16 errors. Bray Lachlan led with 13 kills, three assists, an ace, a block and 12 digs. Harvard had four players with 11 or more kills, 17 by Campbell Schoenfeld. The Crimson had seven aces and 24 errors …Â
Sacred Heart beat Lancaster Bible in four.
Conference Carolinas
North Greenville (18-5, 12-2) and Mount Olive (14-6 ,11-3) entered Saturday tied. But King (17-11, 11-3) tied for second with Mount Olive and got the second seed. Emmanuel (14-13, 7-7) was fourth, followed by Erskine (12-17, 6-8), Belmont Abbey (14-15, 5-9), Lees-McRae (8-14, 4-10) and Barton (0-19, 0-14).Â
The tournament begins Wednesday with Lees-McRae at Belmont Abbey and Barton at Erskine. The quarterfinals are April 19 at Mount Olive and Emmanuel, while North Greenville and King await semifinal matches April 22. See the schedule here.
North Greenville beat Emmanuel 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 25-18. Diego Rosich had 17 kills, hit .414, and had an ace, two blocks and six digs. The Crusaders hit .240 and had seven aces — four by Michael de la Cruz — and 13 errors. Emmanuel hit .156 and had seven aces and 11 errors. Gustavo Cavalcanti had 16 kills, two aces, three blocks and seven digs …Â
King not only knocked Mount Olive out of the lead, but took the second seed with its 25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 25-16 victory. Suetonius Harris had 19 kills, hit .310, and had an ace, five digs and a solo block. King hit .345 and had four aces and 15 errors. Mount Olive hit .204 and had an ace and 14 errors …Â
Erskine beat Belmont Abbey 25-19, 21-25, 27-25, 25-11, 15-13 to break a tie between them. Erskine, which hit .164 and had four aces and eight errors, got 14 kills from Edgerrin Austin. He had five digs and four blocks, one solo. Matteo Miselli had 26 kills for BA, which hit .125 and had four aces and 16 errors. Miselli had two assists, a block and four digs …
Michael Marsans had 24 kills and Lees-MCrae beat Barton 25-20, 30-28, 25-19. Marsans hit .354 and had two assist, two blocks and three digs. Steven Nalls had 15 digs and two assists. L-M hit .308 and had six aces — three by Bradley Peters, who had 10 kills, three blocks and seven digs — and 10 errors. Barton hit .219 and had three aces and eight errors. Brandon Johnston had 11 kills, an ace, a block and 11 digs.
SIAC, Independents
Central State (10-13, 8-1 SIAC) swept visiting Fort Valley State (5-12, 6-3). Cameron Lee had 11 kills, an assist, two aces, a block and seven digs. Central State hit .267 and had seven aces and 13 errors. Fort Valley hit .080 with three aces and 11 errors. Jaxon Hicks had eight kills …Â
Kentucky State (2-10, 2-6) swept Morehouse (0-14, 0-7), which hit minus .031 with two aces and seven errors. Kentucky State, which hit .280 and had 15 aces and 14 errors, got 11 kills from Jordan Howard …Â
Edward Waters (10-17, 7-1) swept Benedict (6-13, 4-6) as eight players had four or more kills. Kaelen Ingram led with seven kills, an ce and 10 digs. EWU hit .261 and had three aces and six errors. Benedict hit .141 and had three aces and 12 errors …Â
Among the independents, LIU (12-16) beat Fairleigh Dickinson (6-14) in five, Queens (15-11) swept D’Youville (8-10) and beat Alderson Broaddus (6-20) in four, and Lincoln Memorial (17-7) hit .411 as it swept Tusculum (6-19).
PLEASE JOIN THE TEAM! Keep free volleyball journalism free by becoming a VolleyballMag.com Sustaining Member:  https://volleyballmag.com/sustaining-membership/  Or make a contribution through Venmo @VolleyballMagÂ
