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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 sweeps injured UCLA — No. 4/4 BYU a day after defeating No. 2/2 UCLA in a fifth-game overtime completed the two-match series sweep with a three-game victory on Saturday. All-American opposite Ben Patch in the two victories had a combined 41 kills and hit more than .400, including having a season-high 28 kills in the series opener. The Bruins were without All-American outside attacker Jake Arnitz and All-American middle attacker Mitch Stahl in two MPSF road losses that dropped the team out of first place.
UC San Diego snaps losing streak — Opposite Tanner Syfestad finished with a match-high 26 kills as UC San Diego beat USC in four games on Saturday to end the program’s 49-match MPSF losing streak that dated back to 2014. Syfestad had a game-high nine kills in the final game to eclipse more than 20 kills for the fourth consecutive match.
CSUN, Long Beach State feast on Stanford — No. 7/9 Stanford suffered two road sweeps during the weekend to drop into a tie for fifth place in the MPSF. Opposite Arvis Greene had a season-high 26 kills on a .615 attack percentage to help No. 14 CSUN upset Stanford on Friday. In addition, No. 3/3 Long Beach State out-hit Stanford .418 to .122 in a victory that propelled the 49ers into first place in the MPSF.
Penn State gets its revenge — Setter Luke Braswell had 35 assists and guided No. 14 Penn State to a .423 attack percentage in a sweep against St. Francis on Friday. The conference-opening victory was the first meeting between the two teams since Red Flash upset the Nittany Lions in the EIVA Tournament semifinals last season — the first time Penn State lost in the conference tournament since 1998.
School record set in Fort Wayne win — Middle attacker Graydon Schroeder set single-match school record with an .810 attack percentage as Fort Wayne defeated McKendree in five games on Friday. Schroeder finished with 17 kills and zero attack errors as the Mastodons won their fourth consecutive match after starting the season 0-8.