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Check out the five things to take away from the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball matches this weekend.
Sacred Heart stuns Penn State — Sacred Heart rallied from an opening-game loss to beat No. 13 Penn State in four games on Saturday for the first victory in program history against the Nittany Lions. All-conference libero Joshua Ayzenberg led all players with a season-high 22 digs, and middle attacker Taylor Bloomquist had a match-high nine blocks in the conference win. Sacred Heart has now won seven of its last eight matches and moved into first place in the EIVA, while Penn State playing without several injured starters has lost two of its last three EIVA matches.
Long Beach State offense continues dominance — All-American setter Josh Tuaniga had two aces, along with 41 assists and guided the offense to a .404 attack percentage as No. 2/2 Long Beach State swept No. 5/5 UCLA on Saturday. This was the seventh consecutive MPSF match that the first-place 49ers have hit more than .400.
Mount Olive still perfect in conference — Mount Olive had a .324 attack percentage and four players finish with double-digit kills as it overcame a two-game road deficit to beat King on Friday in a match-up between two undefeated teams in Conference Carolinas play. In addition, Mount Olive swept Lees-McRae on Saturday to remain in first place in Conference Carolinas and one of the two teams in the nation still undefeated in conference play.
USC knocks off another ranked team — USC outside attacker Lucas Yoder had a match-high 21 kills and added 12 digs in a five-game victory against No. 9/10 Pepperdine on Saturday. This was the second victory for the Trojans last week against a top-10 nationally ranked team. The two wins also moved the Trojans into ninth place in the MPSF and a half-match out of eight place and the final spot for the upcoming MPSF Tournament.
Ball State stumbles on road — No. 11 Ball State dropped to 0-4 against top-10 nationally ranked teams this season with road losses to No. 7/7 Lewis and No. 10/8 Loyola during the weekend. The Cardinals entered the weekend among the nation’s leaders with a .193 opponent attack percentage. Both the Flyers and Ramblers, though, hit more than .300 in the two conference victories.