Now there is just one unbeaten team in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball.
Second-ranked BYU took it to No. 1 Hawai’i on its home floor Thursday night, sweeping the Rainbow Warriors 25-15, 25-17, 25-20.
It left BYU of the MPSF 17-0, while Hawai’i is 14-1.
And they play again Friday.
The men’s recaps follow and a look at NCAA beach, which has a busy weekend ahead.
But first Friday’s men’s matches.
The big one is a key Big West battle at Santa Barbara, when No. 3 UCSB (13-2) plays host to No. 6 UC San Diego (13-3). UCSD is off to a 2-0 Big West start while this is the conference opener for the Gauchos.
Fourth-ranked Long Beach State plays host to the MIVA’s Lindenwood and No. 7 UC Irvine plays North Greenville of Conference Carolinas in Phoenix where it then plays Grand Canyon of the MPSF on Saturday.
Speaking of which, GCU is home twice Friday, first against Vanguard and then North Greenville.
There’s an intriguing match in Palo Alto when No. 13 Stanford of the MPSF plays host to No. 5 Lewis of the MIVA. Also Friday, the MPSF’s Pepperdine is home for Saint Francis of the EIVA.
The EIVA has two other matches, as NJIT plays at Princeton and Sacred Heart goes to the MIVA’s Purdue Fort Wayne.Â
Two other Conference Carolinas, teams have non-league matches when King plays host to Tusculum and Limestone is home for Life. Not like forever, but to play Life University.
To watch any match that is being streamed or broadcast, go to the VolleyballMag.com TV listings.
BYU sweeps Hawai’i: His team hit an incredible .603 and BYU’s Gabi Garcia Fernandez not only had 13 kills and hit .688, he had eight aces. Fernandez had two errors in 16 attacks and a dig. His team had 10 aces and just 10 errors.
Zach Eschenberg and Davide Gardini had 10 kills each. Eschenberg hit .500 and had two blocks and two digs, while Gardini had one error in 12 attacks and hit .750 to go with two assists, an ace, two blocks and two digs. Setter Wil Stanley had two kills in four errorless tries, 29 assists, an ace, two blocks and six digs.
“What an exciting match to be a part of,” said BYU coach Shawn Olmstead, who personally improved to 5-1 when playing the No. 1 team in the nation.
“It’s hard to focus on one or two guys tonight when this was a complete team effort. Credit to each one of our guys who had a focus this week on consistent pressure and followed the plan. Gabi was confident from the service line and both of our outside hitters had great nights. Wil deserves a lot of credit for the decisions he made throughout the match.”
BYU is one victory away from tying the best start in school history.
Hawai’i hit .250 and had four aces — three by Filip Humler — and 11 errors. Rado Parapunov had 10 kills, but hit .190 to go with an ace, a block and a dig. Colton Cowell had nine kills, an assist, and a block.Â
BYU held a 6-2 blocking advantage. The Rainbow Warriors had won 24 sets in a row and 25 matches in a row at home.
Around the nation: No. 12 UCLA of the MPSF (9-9) beat visiting CSUN of the Big West (4-11) 26-24, 25-21, 25-27, 25-22 behind 14 kills and five blocks from Daenan Gyimah. He hit .500 and had three aces. Austin Matautia had 10 kills, an ace, three blocks and six digs. The Bruins hit .243 and had eight aces and 26 errors. CSUN hit .200 and had two aces and 21 errors. Kyle Hobus had 12 kills and Daniel Wetter 10 …Â
Another MPSF team also won in four as No. 14 Concordia (10-10) beat visiting UC Santa Cruz. Thirteen different Eagles had kills, 11 by Darcy Taig. Earlier, CUI beat Westcliff in four …Â
The MPSF’s USC (4-13) beat visiting Saint Francis of the EIVA (5-12) 25-18, 25-18, 20-25, 25-18 as the Trojans hit .330 and had six aces and 23 errors. SFU hit .140 and had six aces and 24 errors. Billy Fauntleroy had 13 kills and hit .476 for USC to go with two assists, two aces, five digs and a block. Michael Fisher had 11 kills for SFU …Â
In the MIVA, Loyola (7-11, 4-4) beat Purdue Fort Wayne (8-7, 3-5) 18-25, 25-23, 34-32, 25-21. Cole Schlothauer had 16 kills, Jake Maffett and Devin Joslyn 15 each, and Kyle Piekarski 14. Schlothauer had an assist, 10 digs and three blocks, one solo. Maffett hit .448 and had an assist, three aces, six digs and four blocks. Their team hit .392 and had four aces and 15 errors. PFW hit .299, had six aces and 12 errors, and got 22 kills from Pelegrin Vargas, who had an ace and 12 digs. Richie Diedrich had 15 kills and hit .545 with two aces and a block and Jon Diedrich had 14 kills, an assist, three aces and five digs …
Also in the MIVA, Quincy hit .468 as it swept Culver-Stockton. Omari Wheeler led with 16 kills, hitting .625 …Â
King of Conference Carolinas (8-9) beat visiting Charleston of the EIVA (4-12) in a wild five, 30-28, 25-13, 28-30, 20-25, 15-11, despite 27 kills by Lachlan Bray, who hit .500 and had three aces, eight digs and a block.
Joshua Kim led King with 19 kills and hit .441 and had three aces, two digs and three blocks. Sean Kohlhase had 18 kills and hit .314 to go with a dig and three blocks, one solo. Suetonius Harris had 14 kills, 10 digs and three blocks. King hit .366 and had seven aces and 14 errors. Charleston, which hit .282 and had six aces and 21 errors, also got 11 kills from Maarten Bartel, who hit .333 and had an assist, two aces, six digs and four blocks.
And Emmanuel of ConfCarolinas (5-11) swept Reinhardt (4-15) as Emmanuel hit .143 and Reinhardt hit .048.
NCAA beach: No. 5 USC beat No. 8 LMU on Thursday a day before things get busy in the sand on Friday.
There are a handful of tournaments, including the Pac-12 South Tournament in Los Angeles, the Fight in the Fort in Fort Worth at TCU, and the Battle on the Bay in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Pac-12 gathering at UCLA and Santa Monica includes No. 2 UCLA, No. 5 USC, No. 11 Cal, No. 19 Stanford, Arizona State, Utah, Oregon and Washington.
Click here for UCLA news release that includes the schedule.
TCU’s tournament includes top-ranked LSU, the Horned Frogs, No. 17 Arizona, UAB and Missouri State. Click here for the TCU news release.
The teams at No. 9 Pepperdine’s Zumo Beach include No. 14 Long Beach State, No. 10 Stetson and No. 15 South Carolina.Â
Click here for the Pepperdine news release and schedule.
The Battle on the Bay in Florida is highlighted by No. 13 Florida Atlantic and includes Division II power Tampa, Eckerd, Florida Southern, Jacksonville, FGCU, Palm Beach Atlantic, and UT-Martin.
Also in the Sunshine State is the North Florida Invite that includes No. 3 Florida State, which plays UNCW and UNF.
USC improved to 3-2 with its 4-1 win over visiting LMU (3-3). That included sweeps by the USC pairs at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4.
USC 4, Loyola Marymount 1
1. Haley Hallgren/Hailey Harward (USC) def. Selina Marolf/Reka Orsi Toth (LMU); 21-18, 23-21
2. Darby Dunn/Megan Rice (LMU) def. Kyla Doig/Sammy Slater (USC); 21-17, 21-19
3. Audrey Nourse/Nicole Nourse (USC) def. Emma Doud/Savannah Slattery (LMU); 21-19, 21-17
4. Joy Dennis/Harper Hallgren (USC) def. Georgia Fusco/Lacy Haddock (LMU); 21-18, 22-20
5. Cammie Dorn/Paige Dreeuws (USC) def. Cassie Chinn/Jessie Prichard (LMU); 18-21, 21-14, 15-10
Order of finish: 3, 4, 1, 2, 5
ORU hires Craig: Oral Roberts University promoted assistant Frank Craig III, who has been with the program for five years. He played at Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio. He replaces Sheera Sirola, who resigned after 17 seasons. The Golden Eagles finished 8-23 in 2019, 4-12 in the Summit League.
That leaves Division I women’s coaching openings at this late juncture at Merrimack, Penn, St. Peters, and UNCW.Â
