UCLA mined more MPSF gold in the desert with a sweep of Grand Canyon and other highly ranked teams continued to get rich on a Saturday in Division I-II NCAA men’s volleyball that maintained the status quo.
Hawai’i, Penn State, Long Beach State and UC Irvine had little trouble padding their victory totals in their respective conferences. The MIVA saw some hair-raising moments but no upsets.
In a matchup of programs ranked among the top six in the AVCA poll, No. 2 UCLA (23-2, 8-0 MPSF) again displayed its dominance over Grand Canyon, tied for fifth nationally, after a contentious initial set. On Friday in Phoenix, the Bruins dropped the opener, the first set they had lost in MPSF play this season. On the second night of the back-to-back series, a crowd of 1,563 watched the host Lopes (21-4, 6-4) push UCLA to overtime in the first before surrendering in three 30-28, 25-21, 25-19.
Grand Canyon Coach Matt Werle candidly commented after Friday’s four-set defeat that his team “lost all fight and all will” after falling short in the second set and, “It seemed like we kind of gave up.”
The next night produced a similar scenario. UCLA ripped a robust .448 overall with just nine attack errors in 87 swings. Grand Canyon hit at a .361 clip in the opening set, but fell to .250 in the second and .161 in the third. Israeli national David Ido (13 kills), Ethan Champlin (10) and Alex Knight (10) gave the Bruins balance. Camden Gianni had 11 kills and seven digs for the Lopes.
No. 1 Hawai’i (22-2, 5-1 Big West) had its attack in high gear again, blistering host UC Santa Barbara (5-15, 1-6) by hitting .418 in a 25-19, 25-21, 29-27 triumph. Usual suspects Dimitrios Mouchlias (14 kills with a .520 percentage) and Chaz Galloway (12 kills on .526) led the way for the two-time defending NCAA champion Rainbow Warriors.
Fourth-ranked Long Beach State (16-3, 5-1 Big West) played pristine volleyball before a crowd of 1,413 at the Pyramid in a 25-15, 25-17, 25-13 shellacking of UC San Diego (7-14, 1-6). The Beach had 56 attacks and committed two errors. That number “two” is not a typo. The Tritons made 28 attacking errors, three more than they totaled in kills. Sotiris Siapanis of Long Beach State went 8-for-12 with no errors; Clark Godbold was 7–for-11 with no error
Visiting UC Irvine (16-6, 6-0 Big West), tied…
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