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Check out the five things to take away from the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball matches this weekend.
Ohio State remains perfect — All-American opposite Miles Johnson had a match-high 22 kills on a .395 attack percentage as No. 1/1 Ohio State defeated No. 4/4 Long Beach State in four games on Saturday. In addition, All-American outside attacker Nicolas Szerszen added 16 kills and led all players with three aces against the 49ers. With this victory, the Buckeyes are the only undefeated team left in the nation and extended their winning streak to 32 matches — the program’s longest winning streak since 1969-70.
UC Irvine doesn’t fear Smith Fieldhouse — Outside attacker Tamir Hershko and setter Michael Saeta each had a match-high three aces to help No. 7/7 UC Irvine defeat No. 3/3 BYU in five games on Friday. The Anteaters had nine aces to win the conference match, despite committing a season-high 28 serving errors — three more than the Cougars. BYU survived an 18-point overtime in third game and rallied from a two-game deficit before losing in the fifth game to end its eight-match home winning streak that dated back to last season.
Fort Wayne stuns George Mason — Fort Wayne held No. 12 George Mason to less than a .050 attack percentage in a sweep on Friday for its first win against a nationally ranked team in two years. Freshman outside attacker Pelegrin Vargas in the victory had both a match-high nine kills and seven digs. The Mastodons also out-blocked the Patriots 14.5 to 1.
Grand Canyon knocks off Lewis — Setter Michael Milstein had 55 assists and guided the Grand Canyon offense to a season-high .366 attack percentage in a five-game upset victory of No. 6/6 Lewis on Sunday afternoon. This is the second consecutive year the Antelopes have defeated a top-10 ranked team in conference play. The win also came after Grand Canyon suffered a five-game loss to Lewis in the two-match series opener on Friday.
UCLA overpowers UC Santa Barbara — No. 2/2 UCLA committed less than 10 attack errors and hit more than .400 to complete the home-and-home series sweep against No. 11 UC Santa Barbara on Friday. Middle attacker Daenan Gyimah had a match-high 12 kills on a .647 attack percentage, while middle attacker Mitch Stahl added a season-high five aces to help keep the Bruins undefeated in MPSF play.