By Larry Hamel for VolleyballMag.com
UCLA recorded its second victory in as many nights over Long Beach State —
this time upsetting the nation’s No. 2-ranked team in front of a sellout crowd at The
Pyramid — to grab the spotlight on Friday in NCAA Division I-II men’s indoor
volleyball.
The No. 4 Bruins featured a balanced attack set by freshman Andrew Rowan,
stepping in for the departed Miles Partain, during a tight four-set victory in a hostile
environment.
Meanwhile, top-ranked Hawaii rolled along with a sweep at Stanford, surging
Grand Canyon kept its “0” intact and UC-Irvine prevailed in a matchup of top-seven
squads.
Recaps are below, but first, here’s a rundown on the matches schedule on
Saturday:
The featured attraction on the West Coast is the second installment of the
weekend series between Hawaii of the Big West and host Stanford of the MPSF.
Another attractive rematch of nationally ranked teams sees No. 14 UC Santa Barbara
(Big West) at No. 10 BYU (MPSF). CSUN, which broke into the AVCA poll
this week at No. 15, of the Big West visits Fairleigh Dickinson of the NEC.
Conference action continues in the MIVA with Lewis at No. 11 Ohio State, No. 9
Ball State hosting McKendree, No. 13 Loyola Chicago visiting Lindenwood and Purdue
Fort Wayne playing at Quincy.
Elsewhere in the East, No. 3 Penn State of the EIVA visits the NEC’s Saint
Francis (Pa.) and Princeton of the EIVA entertains St. Francis Brooklyn of the NEC.
Conference Carolinas has four league matches: Barton vs. Belmont Abbey,
Erskine vs. King, Emmanuel vs. Lees-McRae and Mount Olive vs. North Greenville.
In other action, Kentucky State of the SIAC plays two matches in Walesa,
Georgia, against St. Andrews and host Reinhardt; and in a quad in St. Louis, the SIAC’s
Central State faces Missouri S&T and Alderson Broaddus, and host Maryville meets
Alderson Broaddus.
For links to all matches that are being shown, go to our VolleyballMag.com TV &
Streaming Listings.
Even with 4,138 packed into the iconic Pyramid, the third-largest crowd in
program history and its first post-COVID sellout, second-ranked Long Beach State
(6-2) of the Big West couldn’t get over the hump against No. 4 UCLA (11-1) of the
MPSF.
Following a three-set blowout on Thursday night at storied Pauley Pavilion with
this four-set road victory, the Bruins figure to move up a spot in the AVCA poll, soldiering
on despite the decision by Partain, the 2022 MPSF player of the year, to leave the team.
UCLA…
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