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The conference standings got a whole lot tighter and school records were broken during the weekend.
Check out the five things to take away from this weekend in college men’s volleyball
1. Long Beach State over-powers BYU — All-American outside attacker Taylor Crabb had a team-high 21 kills to help No. 3 Long Beach State defeat No. 2 BYU in four games on Friday. With this victory, the 49ers snapped the Cougars’ six-match winning streak and move within two matches of BYU for first place in the MPSF.
2. Stanford wins big on the road — No. 10 Stanford went undefeated during its Southern California weekend road trip, including an upset against No. 4 Pepperdine on Friday. In addition, it tied a rally-scoring era school record with a .527 attack percentage in a sweep
of No. 7 USC on Sunday. These two conference victories moved the Cardinal into a tie for eighth place and the final postseason berth to the MPSF Tournament.
3. Penn State back in control of EIVA — Penn State lost in non-conference play to Ohio State on Friday but ended the weekend back in control of its own fate for the EIVA regular season championship without playing a conference match. Both Harvard and Princeton had a chance to take sole possession of first place in the EIVA but dropped conference matches during the weekend. Harvard rallied to defeat Princeton in five games on Saturday one day after it was upset in a three-game loss to George Mason.
4. Anteaters knocks off Rainbow Warriors twice — Outside attacker Jeremy Dejno had a season-high 21 kills and All-American middle attacker Scott Kevorken added a match-high seven blocks as No. 9 UC Irvine defeated No. 8 Hawai’i in five games on Sunday. The victory completed the two-match road sweep against the Rainbow Warriors and moved UC Irvine into a tie for eighth place in the MPSF.
5. Ponnet gets school record in conference win — Grand Canyon outside attacker Ben Ponnet set the single-match school record with 31 kills in a four-game victory against Quincy on Saturday. The Antelopes swept the Hawks in the weekend series for their first conference victories of the season and moved into seventh place in the MIVA.