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Check out the five things to take away from the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball matches this weekend.
1. Stanford upsets BYU twice — Stanford swept its two-match home series against No. 4 BYU during the weekend to move within one match of eighth place and the final berth to the MPSF Tournament. In addition, outside attacker Gabriel Vega had a season-high 21 kills in the four-game series finale victory Saturday. This was also the first time since 2011 that BYU lost a match to an unranked team.
2. Hawai’i keeps on winning — Four Rainbow Warriors finished with double-digit kills and setter Jennings Franciskovic had a career-high 70 assists to help No. 6 Hawai’i defeat No. 5 Pepperdine in five games on Sunday. With this victory, Hawai’i completed a two-match series sweep against Pepperdine and moved into a tie for first-place in the MPSF standings. It also extended the Rainbow Warriors’ winning streak to eight matches.
3. Long Beach rallies past UCLA — Outside attacker Dan Glamack had a team-high 15 kills and added 12 digs as No. 10 Long Beach State overcame a one-game deficit to beat No. 9 UCLA in five games on Friday. The Bruins in the loss out-hit the 49ers .255 to .237 but committed a season-high 25 service errors.
4. Barton undergoes marathon matches — Barton within a span of about 24 hours played three five-game matches during a non-conference event at Grand Canyon. The Bulldogs went 1-2 in the five-game matches, including beating NAIA powerhouse Concordia-Irvine in a fifth-game overtime on Saturday. Outside attacker Pierrer Tang-Taye also led Barton with a combined 59 kills in the three matches.
5. McKendree dominates Limestone — McKendree held Limestone to a season-worst negative-.180 attack percentage in a three-game non-conference road victory Sunday. In addition, the Bearcats’ 17-point win in the opening game was their largest margin of victory in the program’s two-year history.