Fifth-ranked UC Irvine of the Big West swept visiting George Mason of the EIVA in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball on Tuesday 25-21, 25-20, 25-23 as the West Coast teams continued to hold the upper hand on their visitors from the Midwest and East during this non-conference time of the schedule.
But there are two conference matches on tap Wednesday. In the MPSF, No. 4 UCLA (17-5, 5-2 MPSF) goes to No. 14 Concordia (10-10, 4-3). UCLA is two games back of league leader BYU.
And in the MIVA No. 11 Ball State (11-9, 4-2 MIVA) goes to No. 15 Fort Wayne (15-5, 4-3). Both need to win to keep from falling completely out of the league race.
Two ranked NCAA beach teams play Wednesday when No. 1 Pepperdine plays host to No. 4 Florida State. On Thursday, No. 7 Long Beach State is home for FSU, No. 16 Loyola Marymount and TCU.
UCI beats Mason: The Anteaters are 14-5 after Karl Apfelbach had 16 kills and hit .433. He added an ace and four blocks. UCI gets back to Big West play with a home-and-home Thursday and Friday with UC San Diego.
Mason (10-10), which has been swept in all three of its West Coast matches, got 16 kills from Hayden Wagner. The Patriots are now off for 10 days before resuming EIVA play.
