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The conference standings got even more jumbled this weekend with numerous upsets across the nation.
Check out the five things to take away from this weekend in college men’s volleyball.
1. Gauchos contenders in MPSF — No. 8 UC Santa Barbara jumped into third place in the MPSF and extended its winning streak to three matches with a four-game victory against No. 5 Long Beach State on Friday. Outside attacker Austin Kingi led all players and had a season-high 20 kills against the 49ers — his seventh consecutive match with double-digit kills.
2. BYU avoids road woes — All-American outside attacker Taylor Sander finished with a match-high 27 kills as No. 4 BYU on the road defeated No. 7 Stanford in five games on Saturday. With the victory, BYU finished its season-long five-match road trip at 4-1 and extended its first-place lead in the MPSF to 1.5 matches ahead of second-place No. 2 UCLA.
3. Ball State, IPFW get big MIVA wins — Both Ball State and IPFW picked-up road victories against Lindenwood and Quincy during the weekend to move up among leaders in the MIVA standings. The Cardinals are in second place and one of the nation’s four remaining undefeated teams in conference play, while the Mastodons are now in third place in the MIVA. In addition, both teams will play first-place No. 1 Loyola later this week.
4. St. Francis rallies for EIVA win — Outside attacker Adam Barba had a team-high 20 kills and added 10 digs and six blocks to help St. Francis rally from a two-game deficit to defeat NJIT in five games on Saturday. The Red Flashes, which are attempting reach the four-team EIVA Tournament for the first time in three years, are now in third place in the EIVA and one-match behind first-place No. 10 Penn State.
5. Conference Carolinas race wide open — One-third of the way through the college men’s volleyball season and six teams are within two matches of first place in the Conference Carolinas. First-place Erskine entered the weekend undefeated in conference play but lost at home to Mount Olive on Saturday to make the race for the lead in the Conference Carolinas even tighter.