NCAA volleyball report: AVCA men’s and beach polls; NAIA champion; DIII men’s tourney

AVCA MEN’S POLL: One ranking is still to come, the one that comes out after the NCAA championship match.

This week, the top 15 held form. Starting with Hawai’i, which got 15 first-place votes, and No. 2 UCLA, which got the other seven, the top five spots stayed the same. 

Ohio State made the biggest jump, two spots to No. 9. No team fell more than one spot and no one dropped out.

Click here to see the complete AVCA Men’s National Collegiate Coaches Poll.

AVCA BEACH POLL: The top seven teams stayed identical with top-ranked UCLA getting 21 first-place votes and No. 2 TCU getting the other three.

Stanford jumped two spots to No. 8 and Hawai’i dropped three notches to No. 11. No one dropped out and no other team moved up or down more than one spot.

Click here for the AVCA Collegiate Beach Coaches Poll.

AVCA BEACH POW: The honor national pair of the week went to Long Beat State’s Malia Gementara aand Taylor Hagenah. The AVCA has given the award to a new team each week, never repeating a school. 

Gementara, a freshman from Chula Vista, California, and  Hagenah, a freshman from Oceanside, went 4-0 this past weekend as Long Beach State won the program’s first Big West Championship title.

DIVISION III MEN: The semifinals are Friday when top-seeded Vassar (26-1) plays fifth-seeded North Central (24-3) and second-seeded Stevens (33-3) plays fourth-seeded Messiah (27-5). 

Vassar advanced with wins over Baruch and Southern Virginia. North Central beat Benedictine, another Illinois school, and Carthage. Stevens knocked out Geneva and Wentworth, while Messiah defeated St. Joseph’s and Juniata.

The championship match is Sunday.

Click here for more information and the NCAA Division III bracket.

VANGUARD WINS NAIA MEN’S TITLE: Vanguard of California pulled of a reverse sweep and defeated Benedictine Mesa of Arizona 20-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-11 to win the NAIA men’s volleyball championship. Kyle Anema had 23 kills while hitting .500 for the Lions (20-5) to go with two assists, two aces, two digs and block. Dapre Rogers had 19 kills for Benedictine Mesa to go with an assist, an ace, six digs and two blocks.

The teams met three times in the regular season. The teams split two matches in January and Benedictine Mesa won the third meeting. Benedictine Mesa finished the season 27-4.