My men’s volleyball media poll ballot

Penn State after a one-week absence from the top five in the national rankings is back in the top-tier.

The Nittany Lions jumped up two spots to No. 5 in the newest top 10 media poll that was released Tuesday — the only team to move up more than one spot. In addition, BYU earned all but one first-place vote to remain No. 1 for the third straight week.

Check out this week’s top 10 men’s volleyball media poll and my ballot with explanations on why ranked each team where I did.

Let the debate begin on who are the best teams in the nation.

Volleyball Magazine Men’s Division I-II Top 10 Poll
1. BYU — 99 (9) points
2. UCLA — 86 (1) points
3. UC Irvine — 85 points
4. USC — 58 points
5. Penn State — 57 points
6. Lewis — 52 points
7. Stanford — 46 points
8. Pepperdine — 32 points
9. Ohio State — 22 points
10. Long Beach State — 8 points
Others receiving votes: Loyola, Cal State Northridge

My Volleyball Magazine Men’s Division I-II Top 10 Poll ballot
1. BYU (6-1, 4-0 MPSF)
Last week’s results: idle
BYU outside attacker Taylor Sander did not have 20 kills in a match last week and was not named the MPSF Player of the Week. It only took a bye week for both those feats to not be accomplished. Sander is the front-runner for the AVCA Player of the Year and BYU is the best team in the nation.

2. UC Irvine (7-2, 3-2 MPSF)
Last week’s results: defeated Pepperdine and USC
UC Irvine outside attacker Kevin Tillie lived up to the preseason hype with 31 combined kills in two starts last week. The Anteaters with Carson Clark, Jeremy Dejno and Tillie are the deepest team in the nation at outside attacker.

3. UCLA (9-1, 4-0 MPSF)
Last week’s results: defeated Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara
The only thing more impressive than the Bruins nation-best seven-match winning streak is that they have swept their opponents in their last six matches. UCLA is good and if the history of Al Scates coached team tells us anything, they will only get better as the season progresses.

4. Lewis (6-2, 0-0 MIVA)
Last week’s results: defeated St. Francis and George Mason
Before anyone gets on a soapbox about how non-West Coast teams shouldn’t be in the top five here’s a stat: Lewis has played an equal about of matches against West Coast and non-West Coast teams this season. The Flyers have signatures win against the Waves and Nittany Lions and until they lose they will be in my top five.

5. Penn State (4-1, 0-0 EIVA)
Last week’s results: defeated Stanford and Pacific
Penn State recovered after a loss to Lewis with a signature victory against Stanford. The Nittany Lions’ schedule now sets up for the team to be on a 10-match winning streak when it plays Ohio State on March 3.

6. Stanford (5-2, 2-1 MPSF)
Last week’s results: defeated Ohio State, lost to Penn state
Give Stanford a lot of credit for its willingness to travel across the nation to play non-conference matches — the only top MPSF team to do that this season. Stanford now continues the brutal portion of its schedule with two matches against No. 1 BYU this weekend.

7. USC (4-3, 3-3 MPSF)
Last week’s results: defeated UC San Diego, lost to UC Irvine
USC went 0-3 in matches against USC and UC Irvine during the last two weeks. However, give this young team a few months to gel and just wait for the potential rematches on the MPSF Tournament.

8. Pepperdine (6-2, 5-1 MPSF)
Last week’s results: defeated UC San Diego, lost to UC Irvine
Pepperdine on its first road trip of the season survived an upset scare against UC San Diego. The Waves are a young team and beginning to learn how to win on the road.

9. Ohio State (6-4, 0-0 MIVA)
Last week’s results: defeated Pacific, lost to Stanford
Ohio State is continuing to get better every week but the team is still living and dying by the play of outside attacker Shawn Sangrey. Sangrey is the only MIVA player averaging more than 4.00 kills per game and became the first player in the nation to have more than 300 kill attempts.

10. Long Beach State (3-4, 0-3 MPSF)
Last week’s results: defeated Cal Baptist
Long Beach State snapped its three-match losing streak with a victory against Cal Baptist. It wasn’t the most impressive win but it gives the 49ers some momentum after a rough losing streak.

On the bubble
Quincy — The Hawks are one of the two remaining undefeated NCAA Division I-II teams. If Quincy can win its two non-conference matches this weekend and beat Ball State in two weeks it will make my top 10.

Cal State Northridge — Outside attacker Julius Hoefer has been great this season. The Matadors now need to get some more wins.