Quick hits: 5 things to take away from the weekend in college volleyball

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Check out the five things to take away from the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball matches this weekend.

BYU stuns UCLA at Wooden Center — No. 3/3 BYU for the first time in its program history swept a two-match road series at No. 1/1 UCLA and remains tied for first place entering the final week of the regular season. Outside attacker Brendan Sander in the two weekend victories had a combined 20 kills with four attack errors and 10 blocks. In addition, middle attacker Michael Hatch had a season-high 12 blocks in the series-opening win on Friday. With these two losses, UCLA dropped to third place in the MPSF and has been eliminated from MPSF regular season title contention.

Stanford rallies to stay in first place — No. 5/5 Stanford overcame three game-points to win a third-game overtime as it defeated No. 4/4 Long Beach State in four games on Saturday. All-American setter James Shaw guided the Stanford offense to a .391 attack percentage and had a match-high three aces in the victory. The Cardinal are now tied for first place in the MPSF and will win the MPSF regular season championship along with the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament if it wins its remaining two matches.

Erskine makes statement, back in first — Erskine in a match-up between two teams tied for first place finished with a .492 attack percentage and swept Pfeiffer on Saturday. Outside attacker Mike Michelau had 10 kills and zero attack errors on a .769 attack percentage, while outside attacker Roberto Perez Vargas had a match-high 12 kills and hit .429 against the Falcons. The Flying Fleet are now in sole possession of first place in the Conference Carolinas with two remaining matches.

Grand Canyon pulls off comeback upset — Outside attacker Gerrard Lipscombe had a match-high 22 kills on a .462 attack percentage as Grand Canyon rallied from a two-game deficit to defeat No. 12 Loyola in five games on Saturday. This is the first time in the Antelopes’ program history that they beat the Ramblers.

George Mason makes playoff push — Outside attacker Paco Velez had a combined 34 kills and hit more than .300 in both matches of George Mason’s series sweep against Sacred Heart during the weekend. George Mason is now tied with St. Francis for the final berth to the four-team EIVA Tournament and one match out of second place.