The top 11 NCAA beach teams remained exactly the same in the latest AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Poll.
But the men? There was movement in the AVCA Division I-I Men’s Poll, where the one constant is unbeaten No. 1 Long Beach State.
UCLA moved up from fifth to No. 2 after sweeping BYU, which dropped from second to No. 4. UC Irvine stayed No. 3, while Pepperdine dropped a notch to Nos. 6 through 10 stayed the same: Hawai’i, Ohio State, Loyola, CSUN and Lewis.
Click here for the complete AVCA men’s poll.
The poll welcomed in College of Charleston at No. 20, but 1 through 11 stayed the same, starting with UCLA, Pepperdine, Hawai’i, USC and Cal Poly in the top five. Arizona and Grand Canyon traded places at Nos. 12 and 15.
Click here for the complete AVCA beach poll.
NCAA men POWs
MPSF: UCLA sophomore middle blocker Daenan Gyimah is the league’s offensive player of the week, while Grand Canyon senior libero Sky Engleman is the defensive POW.
Gyimah had 27 kills and hit .632 in wins over Stanford and BYU. He added 10 blocks. It’s his third weekly honor this season.
Engleman has an MPSF season-best 19 digs in a win over USC.
Big West: No one was bigger last week than CSUN’s Arvis Greene, the senior opposite who had 40 kills in a loss to UC Irvine. He shared the POW honors with Hawai’i sophomore opposite Rado Parapunov.
Sophomore middle Scott Stadick of UC Irvine is the defensive POW, while UCI teammate Austin Wilmot, an outside, is the freshman of the week.
Greene had a national season high with his 40 kills and hit .383 and added two aces, seven digs and four blocks. Parapunov averaged 4.46 kills and 1.86 blocks in two wins.
Stadick won for the fourth time as the 7-footer had 11 blocks in two wins and averaged 1.38 blocks per set in two wins. Wilmot averaged 1.75 blocks in those two victories.
MIVA: Lewis sophomore outside Ryan Coenen is the offensive POW, while Ball State senior middle Matt Walsh took defensive honors.
Coenen averaged 4.0 kills and hit .462 in two wins. Walsh averaged 1.88 blocks in two victories.
EIVA: NJIT sophomore opposite Piotr Namiotko is the offensive winner, while Penn State sophomore middle Jason Donorovich took the defensive honor. It’s the first win for both.
Namiotko had 60 kills, averaging 4.92 kills, while hitting .300 for 13 sets. Donorovich had 11 blocks in two victories.
Conference Carolinas: The honor went to King senior opposite Kiel Bell after his team went 3-0 to clinch the regular-season title. Bell averaged 3.9 kills per set an dhit .453 and had 33 digs, eight blocks and two aces. Bell was also named the AVCA national POW.
NCAA beach POWs
Coastal Collegiate: Tulane’s Madeline Mertz, a senior, and Kaylie McHugh, a sophomore, became the first winners for the Green Wave this season. They went 7-0 as Tulane’s No. 1 pair.
Pac-12: UCLA sophomore Lily Justine and junior Sarah Sponcil extended their winning streak to 10 matches by going 6-0 and are 26-7 overall. They only dropped one set by two points along the way.
ASUN: Stetson sophomore Darby Dunn and junior Sammee Thomas were honored after going 6-1, including a win over Arizona.
AVCA: The award went to Paula Hoffmann and Kaitlyn Sibson of Division II Eckerd after they won all five of their matches without losing a set at the No. 1 position in the inaugural AVCA Small College Beach Championship. Their team lost to Texas A&M Kingsville.
Big West: The league had not reported its top pair when we posted.
