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Check out the five things to take away from the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball matches this weekend.
Historic winning streak finished — It took more than a calendar year, but a team finally knocked off No. 1/1 Ohio State as it lost in three games to No. 6/6 UC Irvine on Saturday. The loss ends the Buckeyes’ MIVA-record winning streak at 42 match, which was five matches shy of tying the NCAA record. UC Irvine held Ohio State to a season-low .222 attack percentage. Three Anteaters in the victory also had double-digit kills, including outside attacker Aaron Koubi who had a match-high 13 kills on a .455 attack percentage.
Another sweep shatters Hawai’i record — No. 4/4 Hawai’i had back-to-back sweeps against No. 8/8 Stanford during the weekend to set the program record with 32 consecutive game victories. Opposite Stijn van Tilburg in the two sweeps finished with a team-high 32 combined kills on a .491 attack percentage. Hawai’i is on a 10-match winning streak as it prepares to play a two-match road series versus No. 3/3 BYU beginning Friday.
Princeton stumbles at chance for first — Princeton needing a victory to move into sole possession of first place in the EIVA suffered a three-game road loss to NJIT on Friday. NJIT outside attacker Jabarry Goodridge in the conference victory finished with both a match-high 20 kills on a .533 attack percentage and four aces.
Lewis gets bounce back win — No. 5/5 Lewis following two losses to open a West Coast road trip salvaged the finale and defeated No. 15 UC Santa Barbara in four games on Saturday. The Flyers out-hit the Gauchos .315 to .215, including having at least a .400 attack percentage in each of the final two games. Opposite Mitch Perinar also had a team-high 17 kills, while outside attacker Ryan Coenen added 15 kills on a .414 attack percentage.
DeFalco dominant at home — All-American outside attacker TJ DeFalco had both a match-high 11 kills and five blocks to help No. 2/2 Long Beach State sweep No. 10/9 Loyola on Saturday at the ASICS Tournament. DeFalco also had a team-high 10 kills in a tournament-opening sweep versus George Mason on Friday and was named the most valuable player of Long Beach State’s annual non-conference event.